Goofus and Gallant

On Dividing the World Into Friends and Enemies

When I was a kid, I loved a comic book strip called Goofus and Gallant, which you could find in a children’s magazine (always available, as I recall, at the doctor’s office). The strip contrasted two boys, who looked the same. Goofus was a mess, and a little bit evil; Gallant was solid and good.

There was, and is, a bit of a mystery here. What’s the core of the difference between them? What makes the two of them so predictable?

Here is the kind of thing Goofus and Gallant would say. “Goofus yells at his mother, ‘Mom, I need you to come up and clean up my room RIGHT NOW!’” By contrast: “Gallant cleans up his room and tells his mother, ‘Mommy, my room is neat now.’”

Or: “Goofus turns up the volume on the radio to annoy his parents.” By contrast, “Gallant asks his parents if he can listen to the radio now.”

Here’s a real one, from 2018: “That’s a silly idea. Here’s what you should do,” says Goofus. By contrast: “Would you like my opinion?” asks Gallant.