The "Spongebob Squarepants" Wikipedia page describes Squidward Tentacles as arrogant and I don't like it. By the dictionary definition of "showing an offensive attitude of superiority", Squidward probably is arrogant, but that isn't good enough for me. I've always thought Squidward was more complicated than that.
By appearances alone, Squidward is not a very sympathetic character. He tries to suck the fun out of just about everything Spongebob and Co. do in the most obnoxious way possible.
You might be thinking, "what is wrong with this guy? Normally when people throw flower petals in my face I love it and he just doesn't. I want nothing to do with him. " I get it, but I think that his ill temper and unhappiness warrants a deeper look.
Squidward has aspirations of being a grand artist and thinks himself well on the way there. Like Squidward, each of us has dreams in our lives, things we want to accomplish, worlds we want to change.
Often somewhere along the road to chasing our dreams, the reality that we may never make it confronts us. The reality that we may never reach the heights that we want to reach. The reality that the future we dream of will never become actuality.
It is a hard message to stomach, and one that is much easier to ignore. Just look at Squidward here thinking about the future.
What comes off as arrogance might just be the unhappiness of a squid who finds himself in unenviable circumstances.
Squidward is a cashier at a cheap fast food restaurant with a money grubbing boss and a coworker who, while lovable, would probably be a struggle to work with. He is a squid who believes that people don't see him for who he truly is.
We could say that he should take a lesson from the sponge and take joy in and pride in what he does. After all, every role in society is important. Think about how much happiness those greasy Krabby Patties bring people.
We could say that his attitude could be the reason he is stuck where he is, and lots more and probably not be wrong, like "you" and "are" and "a jerk."
In saying those things, we might lose sight of the reality for squids stuck in these situations. All squids get stuck at some point in their lives, and getting unstuck can take quite the effort. I can't imagine how hard it must be to go through life feeling like other fish and squid and sea sponges don't see you for who you truly are.
That struggle, while may seem simple to us, may be hard for him to see. While Squidward could do with a good dose of introspection, reality, and reassessment of his goals in life, it is much easier to point that out to someone else than it would be to see those things in our own lives.
Squidward's plight doesn't excuse his behavior, but it certainly helps understand it. This is a squid unwilling to own that his dream might never come true, and, instead, goes through life unhappy, trying to bring others down.
I don't think Squidward is arrogant. I think he is unhappy and unwilling to acknowledge and take responsibility for the circumstances that face him in life. Calling him arrogant blinds us to everything that has led him to this point, and, if one thing is certain, it is that there is more to this squid than meets the eye.
