quote:
This is a classic. Almost Zen-like in its simplicity.
Brevity, as Shakespeare said, is the soul of wit, and indeed, beneath the strip's blunt simplicity lies a subtle sophistication. The joke hinges on dramatic irony. The protagonist expends heroic effort in pursuit of an ambition that he fails to realize because he cannot see how he comes across to others. While we chuckle at his naivete, we also sympathize with it, as we all share mankind's inability "to see ourselves as others see us" (see Burns, "To a Louse").
This tragicomic flaw is further developed in the sequel, where the protagonist mislays the blame for his disappointment on the goddess of chance.
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