The Violence and Villains of Little Orphan Annie
The Snatch
Later on, Annie is tortured by Mr. Mack, though Gray never lets the
reader see what goes on. We know Annie is being beaten, but like
the thugs in the shadowy foreground, we have to use our imagination
to "see" the violence. Gray would rely on this device much more in
later stories. In contrast to Gould's graphic images of violence,
Gray allowed the reader to supply his or her own vision of the
violence.
Use Your Imagination
The Haunted House sequence ends, as do most of Gray's
stories, with the vigilante, in this case "Daddy" Warbucks,
rounding up the gangsters in typical shoot-out fashion. Warbucks
stands in the middle of the fray, while the villain, Mr. Mack,
cowers around a corner. From the middle of the action, Warbucks is
able to spot Mr. Mack and pick-off his hat. Mr. Mack responds by
giving up immediately, in sniveling fashion. In Gray's world, the
villain is always a coward at heart, no matter how despicable he or
she has been. True justice, for Gray, seems to be vigilante-style
justice. This might very well be the reason that Gray ghosted the
western strip
Little Joe.
True justice could be doled out
without the possibility of the judicial system screwing things up.
The Asp and Punjab would later serve Warbucks and Gray well in
this fashion, as many criminals were transported to another world,
relieving the judicial system of the bother. In the case of Mr.
Mack, Warbucks is able to pad the judicial system to make sure that
Mack gets his due. Even Annie questions the morality of such
actions, as have many of Gray's critics.
