Feasting on Liz
Today’s strip introduced the idea that Liz would be feted Ojibway style and receive at least 2 gifts, 1 from Aunt Marg and 1 from Ellen. It also introduced the idea, by having Jesse Mukwa along that all the problems between him and Liz had been fixed by Monday’s strip. It appeared we were rolling right along to the happy / sad Liz farewell, when out of the blue Susan Dokis shows up in tomorrow’s strip. And it is not the chubby, almost mute Susan Dokis we saw last March, but a new updated and kind of hot Susan Dokis. In other words, a Susan Dokis done by the same person who drew the updated Eva and Beatrice Alfarero, who look remarkably like Susan does. I don’t think Constable Paul Wright will have any trouble falling for this girl.
I can’t tell if Susan is here just so Liz can pass on her sage wisdom of “The kids will teach you everything you need to know!” or if her arrival is part of the same sort of plot that has been running with the Cranes and Liz for awhile now. The evidence is this:
1. Liz showed up Mtigwaki, barely getting confirmation she had the job before the school year started.
2. Liz was not allowed by the Cranes to stay in the Mtigwaki apartment during the summer months
3. Once Susan Dokis made an appearance, Gary Crane’s immediate thought was that Liz would not be there next year.
4. In addition, Vivian Crane basically told Liz that because she had not signed a contract for the next year, she was going to depart and stressed her anti-Southerner prejudices as she did so.
5. Susan Dokis is obviously there to take over the apartment as soon as Liz leaves, so she will not have to support herself without a job until school starts.
6. None of the other kids is even the slightest bit upset that Liz is leaving aside from Ellen and Jesse.
If I am reading this correctly, then what has happened is that Liz took the job, which they offered her because they had no one else to take it. She bonds with Jesse, Ellen/Alice, Jesse’s aunt and that’s it. In other words, aside from Paul Wright, no adult friends not associated with her job. All the evidence is here for this story. Is this really what they are trying to say about Liz’s time in Mtigwaki? She went up there, she did her job, and spent the rest of her time holed up in her apartment writing e-mail to her sister and feeling homesick. What an odd turn of events.
I can’t tell if Susan is here just so Liz can pass on her sage wisdom of “The kids will teach you everything you need to know!” or if her arrival is part of the same sort of plot that has been running with the Cranes and Liz for awhile now. The evidence is this:
1. Liz showed up Mtigwaki, barely getting confirmation she had the job before the school year started.
2. Liz was not allowed by the Cranes to stay in the Mtigwaki apartment during the summer months
3. Once Susan Dokis made an appearance, Gary Crane’s immediate thought was that Liz would not be there next year.
4. In addition, Vivian Crane basically told Liz that because she had not signed a contract for the next year, she was going to depart and stressed her anti-Southerner prejudices as she did so.
5. Susan Dokis is obviously there to take over the apartment as soon as Liz leaves, so she will not have to support herself without a job until school starts.
6. None of the other kids is even the slightest bit upset that Liz is leaving aside from Ellen and Jesse.
If I am reading this correctly, then what has happened is that Liz took the job, which they offered her because they had no one else to take it. She bonds with Jesse, Ellen/Alice, Jesse’s aunt and that’s it. In other words, aside from Paul Wright, no adult friends not associated with her job. All the evidence is here for this story. Is this really what they are trying to say about Liz’s time in Mtigwaki? She went up there, she did her job, and spent the rest of her time holed up in her apartment writing e-mail to her sister and feeling homesick. What an odd turn of events.
posted by howard at 12:09 AM
1 Comments:
She went up there, she did her job, and spent the rest of her time holed up in her apartment writing e-mail to her sister and feeling homesick. What an odd turn of events.
It seems that way. As someone (luanndegroot?) suggested over at Foobiverse, if Liz had been able to stay in Mtig over the summers, this could have helped her become more of an integrated member of the community. Of course, that's not the only factor. I don't have the impression that Liz made much of an effort during the academic year(s).
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