Why I Choose to Believe in The Great Pumpkin

You always know it is getting close to Halloween when they air "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on TV.  I find it comforting that this show has been on the air from when I was a kid many decades ago.  It is a time honored tradition to sit on the floor, eat popcorn, and watch Linus wait for the Great Pumpkin for the hundredth time.  You know exactly how it ends but the allure is still there, as though you are sitting in the pumpkin patch yourself, certain that this time the Great Pumpkin will appear.  I don't know about you but I can relate to pretty much all the Charlie Brown characters.  I believe that these cartoon images are an accurate mirror of the human condition.  And I also believe that Charles Schulz was brilliant in being able to capture so much of our human frailties within the scope of a half hour holiday special. 

One of my favorite lines in The Great Pumpkin is, "I got a rock" from a disappointed Charlie Brown who gets rocks in his trick or treat sack instead of candy.  Who among us cannot relate to that feeling of despondency when life unexpectedly gives you a kick in the butt?  There are many times when we expect a "treat" for our efforts but instead end up feeling tricked or cheated.  Charlie Brown's simple statement of fact shows a quiet acceptance of yes, sometimes we get rocks.  Despite the rocks, Charlie Brown doesn't give up.  He keeps on trick or treating in hopes that some day he will get some candy.

I can relate to the character of Sally as well.  Sally is Charlie Brown's little sister and she has a crush on Linus.  When Linus tells her that the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch on Halloween night, she is thrilled by his enthusiasm.  She wants to believe in both Linus and his Great Pumpkin.  And so she gives up a night of trick or treating to stand by his side.  But the Great Pumpkin doesn't come even after spending the entire night in the pumpkin patch.  And Sally lets him have it. 

The conversation between Linus and Charlie Brown, the morning after, is classic Charles Schulz. 

Linus: You've heard of the fury of a woman scorned, haven't you?

Charlie Brown: Yeah, I guess I have.

Linus: Well, that's nothing compared to the fury of a woman who has been cheated out of trick-or-treats.

Schulz finds humor in the universal emotion of anger at someone who causes us to sacrifice and then lets us down.  It can be extremely difficult to take someone we look up to and admire, off the pedestal, and see them for the vulnerable human being they really are.  I always wondered if Sally would ever spend the night again in the pumpkin patch, not believing in the Great Pumpkin for herself, but wanting to support Linus nonetheless.  Would that make her an enabler?

Of all the Schulz characters I think I like Linus most of all.  He is an incurable romantic and idealist.  On the Charlie Brown Christmas episode he is the one to tell a jaded Charlie Brown what the holiday is all about.  And on the Halloween special Linus won't let go of either his blanket or his belief in the Great Pumpkin.  Linus understands that some people won't share in his beliefs when he says, "There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin."  Linus reminds me of a client I used to have when I was working at a day program for adults having multiple disabilities.