A runningPeanutsgag, Sally receiving help with her homework from her favorite big brother Charlie Brown, has had many comic strips throughout the duration of the comics.It was and is incredibly common for older siblings to help their younger siblings with their homework, making the comic strips of Charlie Brown and Sally endlessly relatable.
That said, Sally is not always the most receptive or grateful for his help. Likewise, Sally tends to make some unique mistakes that are totally in line with Sally and her personality. As a result, the running gag inPeanutsof Sally misunderstanding a lot of things stays strong in the homework comic strips as well, withher always having her own view of things that do not align with reality too much.
10"Ha!"
October 6th, 1965
Charlie Brown enlists Linusto help Sally with her “new math” homework, only for her to rebuff the helpsince she sees no purpose in learning math because she says she is going to be a homemaker when she grows up. Linus counters Sally’s point with a perfectly reasonable rebuttal, which she only laughs at derisively, making the usually eloquent Linus speechless.
While the new math of 2024 may look different from the new math of 1965, the term as well as the confusion and annoyance that it creates have remained timeless.
Despite Sally constantly bugging Charlie Brown for help with her homework, she is the first to fight against it when someone actually offers her help for a change. Apparently, beggars can be choosers. It’s interesting to note that this comic strip is from 1965 - 59 years ago - and “new math” is still discussed today. While the new math of 2024 may look different from the new math of 1965, the term as well as the confusion and annoyance that it creates have remained timeless.
9"I Can Hardly Wait to See What Comes Next…"
December 13th, 1972
As Sally does her homework on converting units, Charlie Brown is a dutiful big brother and sits by to make sure that she is doing it correctly. Unfortunately, sitting on standby while she does her work is not the most interesting way to spend time, butSally makes it interesting when she misunderstands a form of measurement, thinking that it is called “grampa.“Charlie Brown’s interest is renewed with this kooky mistake, and he sits with anticipation, waiting to see what Sally will say next.
Sally has only one animated special dedicated to her, which isSnoopy Presents: It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown.
It is unfortunate that she made such a mistake, becauseshe was doing really well until the “grampa” misnomer. The upside of Sally’s misunderstanding is that Charlie Brown is thoroughly entertained. While her mistake borders on the egregious, one can kind of see where she is coming from, with “grampa” having gram in it like decigram and milligram. Basically, any word with gram in it is not off limits to Sally.
8"Eighty!”
May 25th, 1994
Sally hasasked Charlie Brown for helpon her homework more times than can be counted. When Sally asks for his assistance yet again with her homework, he reluctantly agrees but explains to her that at some point, he will not be around to help her anymore, so she should not rely on him so much.He questions just how long she thinks she will need his help, to which Sally answers that when she is the eighty years old, she will no longer need his help.
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One can fault Sally for saying such a large number, but at least she is very honest.Sally’s young age makes her feel like she will always need her big brother’s help, even right before the age of 80, at which point she cannot imagine receiving his assistance. For Sally’s (and Charlie Brown’s) sake, one hope that having to do math homework in her seventies will not be in her future.
7"So Much for Higher Thought”
May 4th, 1973
Writing the saying “Butterflies are free” and what it means for a homework assignment,Sally gives a responsethat tells everyone that she does not get the saying at all, which Charlie Brown picks up on right away. Sally fails to see how her response may not be what her teacher is looking for because of her saying that the quote does not really require much higher thought, which is not particularly true.
She thinks that the saying “Butterflies are free” means that they do not cost any money, so everyone can have as many butterflies as they want. Instead, the saying is about the desire for the lack of constraints and for freedom. As a result, Sally was not even close to getting the meaning of the saying correctly. Then again, one has to wonder why an elementary school student is being asked such an advanced question.
6"You Can If You Push It!"
December 26th, 1967
Math is a challenging subject for many children all over the world, with Sally Brown being no exception. Trying to teach Sally about division, Charlie Brown starts to lose his cool because she is not following the rules of numbers. Rather than listen to her big brother and follow the rules of math, she instead reasons that fifty actually can go into twenty-five… “if you push it.”
Compared to the more neuroticPeanutskids, Sally is the most traditionally childlike in her behavior and thinking, with this comic strip being a perfect example of this trend.She wants the rules of math to bend to her perspective rather than the other way around, which is a common desire for kids below a certain age. Likewise, Sally likes to do things her own way, which is evidenced by this comic strip and her strategy with math.
5"Richard Moby"
May 24th, 1976
Book reports are a common assignment for elementary school-aged children like Sally. Tasked with writing a report onMoby Dickby Herman Melville, Sally misunderstands - as per usual - and thinks that the book isDick Moby. Charlie Brown, being the good homework helper he is, corrects her, letting her know thatDick Mobyis wrong. She questions the book title and then thinks that the correct title could possibly beRichard Moby,playing on the fact that Dick is a common nickname for Richard.
More often than not, Sally misunderstands things or mixes things up, a trait that always shows up in her school assignments and homework. While Charlie Brown always tries to help, even he gets astounded by her mix-ups sometimes, especially when they are really out of this world, as this comic strip illustrates. Hopefully, he corrects his little sister before she turns in her report.
4"My Teacher’s Icy Wrath"
October 31st, 1995
Given how frequently Charlie Brown has to help Sally with her homework, it is more than understandable that he would want a night off for a change. He tells his little sister that he wants to watch something on TV, so he can’t help her with homework that night. Sally takes the loss but decides to leave some words for her brother first,letting him know in the most dramatic way possible that she will look somewhere else for helpto shield her from her teacher’s “icy wrath.”
This specific comic strip is used inDayspring Peanuts: A Year’s Worth of Smiles and Blessings Desk Calendarfor the date of August 23rd.
Not able to shake off the guilt trip, Charlie Brown is seen in the next panel helping Sally after all. Poor old Charlie Brown does not get to watch his program, but hopefully, Sally at least gets a decent grade on her homework thanks to her big brother’s help.
3"Eternity Is a Long Time"
November 26th, 1977
Looking at her book from school, Sally is desperate for some help with her homework, thinking that there is no way that she can do it by herself. Trying to pry her brother away from the TV, she lets him know that she would be extremely grateful - “eternally grateful” - if he would help her. Charlie Brown lets her know that eternity is a very long time to keep up her gratitude, which prompts Sally to then rethink her gratitude timeline and revises it to be only most of Sunday afternoon.
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Most of a Sunday afternoon is better than nothing, but the question remains if he will help Sallyout with her work. GivenCharlie Brown’s helpful natureand Sally’s propensity for guilt trips, chances are that he will help her; he just wants to let her know not to make checks she can’t cash, like being grateful for an eternity.
2"Why Should It Bother You?"
March 29th, 1974
Practicing her cursive, Sally has fun with it by doing things her own Sally way, which can sometimes drive Charlie Brown crazy. In a previous strip, she even enjoys doing a cursive G so much that she wants to frame it. Sally writes a bunch of curlicues, but Charlie Brown can’t tell what they are. Sally explains that she wrote “U’s and W’s,” but her big brother explains that she should not have run them together the way that she has.
Charlie Brown does not really have a response to her, mostly because it’s impossible to fight such impeccable kid logic.
Since this is Sally, she has a rebuttal to his words of advice, giving him the response thatif it does not bother the letters to run together, then it should not bother Charlie Brown. Fair enough, Sally. Charlie Brown does not really have a response to her, mostly because it’s impossible to fight such impeccable kid logic. As often as Sally fightsagainst Charlie Brown’s help, one wonders why she even asks him for homework aid in the first place.
January 30th, 1986
Sally goes to Charlie Brown asking for help with her homework because she does not feel good. Charlie Brown is a good, caring brother, so he agrees to help and asks her why she isn’t feeling good. Sally explains thatwhen she saw her homework, it made her feel sick. She would not be the first or the last child to feel sick at the sight of overwhelming homework.
Any kid can relate to the sick feeling that Sally gets thanks to her bad homework feelings - to the point of a physiological response to homework. Consequently, the strip remains something that kids, of 1986 or of 2024, can understand and relate to, as they have felt the same at one point or another. While Sally definitely does feel sick, she did rope inPeanuts’own Charlie Brown through some unintentionally sneaky pretenses.
Peanuts
Created by Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts is a multimedia franchise that began as a comic strip in the 1950s and eventually expanded to include films and a television series. Peanuts follows the daily adventures of the Peanuts gang, with Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy at the center of them. Aside from the film released in 2015, the franchise also has several Holiday specials that air regularly on U.S. Television during their appropriate seasons.
