A recurring theme in the strip is the over-emphasis on humiltity. Every time we see a character arise whom a Patterson judges to have too much self-confidence, fate mysteriously intervenes to bring him or her crashing back down to earth. This is usually followed by a sermon on the evils of ambition. This could actually be a call by Lynn for her fanbase to behave better and live simpler lives, but for one thing; she's Canadian. What does that matter, you say? Let me tell you a little joke:
An American and Canadian were looking at a buckets of crabs. The American says, "Look at the little guys! They're crawling all over each other!" The Canadian says, "No, these are CANADIAN crabs. They're pulling the one trying to get on top DOWN."
By that, of course, I refer to an annoying tendency within my home and native land; the Tall Poppy Syndrome. Sufferers of this provincial frame of mind, like Lynn, look at somebody trying to become an individual in his own right instead of part of a mob and angrily ask "Who does Joe Blow think he is, anyway?'. In the real world, their huffy predictions of doom are merely the idle boastings of easily aggrieved and small-nided blowhards. However, since the universe on the page reflects Lynn's warped take on reality, the spirits of Foobs past are visited on the prideful. As for why she doesn't call out Saint Narcissus on HIS ego-trip, he says he's doing all this for the greater good of the whole family and is thus spared the wrath of those who punish the over-weening.
An American and Canadian were looking at a buckets of crabs. The American says, "Look at the little guys! They're crawling all over each other!" The Canadian says, "No, these are CANADIAN crabs. They're pulling the one trying to get on top DOWN."
By that, of course, I refer to an annoying tendency within my home and native land; the Tall Poppy Syndrome. Sufferers of this provincial frame of mind, like Lynn, look at somebody trying to become an individual in his own right instead of part of a mob and angrily ask "Who does Joe Blow think he is, anyway?'. In the real world, their huffy predictions of doom are merely the idle boastings of easily aggrieved and small-nided blowhards. However, since the universe on the page reflects Lynn's warped take on reality, the spirits of Foobs past are visited on the prideful. As for why she doesn't call out Saint Narcissus on HIS ego-trip, he says he's doing all this for the greater good of the whole family and is thus spared the wrath of those who punish the over-weening.