Violet Gray - Role in Peanuts

Role in Peanuts

Violet and Patty are best friends, and the two began appearing together almost from the beginning of the strip. Patty was one of the four original characters (along with Charlie Brown, Shermy, and Snoopy), and Violet was the first new major character to join the cast, debuting on February 7, 1951. Her surname was mentioned only once, on April 4, 1953. In the early strips, Violet often acted like a preschool-age Suzy Homemaker: making mud pies, playing "house," and being linked to romantic scenarios involving Charlie Brown. She also collects stamps as a hobby. On rare occasions, Violet was shown walking and keeping company with Shermy.

Violet never really developed a strong personality, especially compared to the next three characters who would be introduced after her (Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus). She tended to be used mostly as a straight woman to set up the punchline. Schulz admitted as much in a 1988 interview. "Some characters just don't seem to have enough personality to carry out ideas," he said, referring to Violet, Patty, and Shermy. "They're just almost born straight men."

A good example has Violet setting up a toy farmyard, including a house, barn, tractor and tree which is suddenly hit by Charlie Brown's kite. Charlie Brown looks embarrassed but not so worried as he was when his kite had hit Lucy's hand in a previous strip.

As the cast of characters grew, Violet was left with very little to do besides antagonizing Charlie Brown. She also played outfield (and sometimes third base) on Charlie Brown's baseball team, and popped up in that capacity from time to time in later strips.