Breaking the Frame

Our Tuesday discussion of Jackie Ormes' work was largely related to her amazingly (and to our modern ears 'surprisingly') incisive social criticism.  Much of this criticism, at least in the Patty Jo n' Ginger comics comes from the mouth of a child (Patty Jo).  Though we discussed Patty Jo's role in these comics, I'm not sure that we adequately addressed its significance.  The biblical phrase "From the mouths of babes" persists in our collective consciousness for a reason.  When a fictional child (or a real one, for that matter) says something, we naturally take it to heart.  This is especially interesting when the words strike us as socially conscious.  Novels like The Catcher in the Rye retain their significance because they attach a certain level of significance to the eyes and mind of young people.  If incisive commentary comes from the mind or the mouth of a child, it seems, it must be so obvious that adults should not fail to notice it.  This is especially poignant when one considers the racial commentary that Patty Jo often makes.  Ormes' decision to draw her characters outside of the frame also struck me as significant.  To me, this seemed to place her characters, and the issues they address, firmly within our own 'real' world.  This is especially significant when Patty Jo addresses slum-bound children.  Ormes' young mouthpiece stands outside the frame, seemingly a representative of our own enlightened 'adult' ideas.  She is not the only character that breaks the frame.  To her left, a child crawls outside of the inky border.  This suggests that the issue of slum housing is one that genuinely affects the reader.  It is clear that these characters exist outside the bounds of the newspaper.  Ormes wants to remind the readers that the issues addressed in the newspaper editorial cannot be answered there.  The reader can, and should, take them to heart and seek to address them in his or her life.