Miss Wormwood is Calvin's teacher, named after the apprentice devil in C.S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters." She always wears polka-dotted dresses and is the only other character besides Calvin to wear the same thing every day. Though Calvin doesn't take her as seriously as Rosalyn, she holds some control over him, although he makes her eager for retirement. Calvin, when pretending to be Spaceman Spiff, sees Miss Wormwood as an alien. Even though time progresses in Calvin and Hobbes, just as they don't age, Calvin and Susie never leave first grade, and always have Miss Wormwood as their teacher.
Health
Miss Wormwood is a heavy smoker; according to Calvin she smokes up to two packs a day, unfiltered. She mixes medications, apparently drinks Maalox straight from the bottle, and is waiting for retirement. In all, she is one of Watterson's darkest characters when examined up close.
|
|