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What makes Tom and Jerry a wholesome entertainer for all family members, young and adult alike? Is it the thrashing that mostly Tom keeps getting at Jerry’s hands? Or is it the victory of the weak (Jerry) over the strong (Tom)? Or is it because the bottom line of most of the tales is that life is a great leveler? Or is it because of the sum of all the above, as a whole package?
I think it is the latter. People like, should I say love, the characters Tom and Jerry as a whole, both together. You just cannot appreciate one without the other. They are a couple made out to be together as eternal lovers - life partners.
Tom rarely attempts to eat Jerry as natural it should be between cats and mice. But did it happen in any episode? Never. Why? You can simply say the story would end if one is killed. But the fact is there is more to it than meets the eye. Read more of this in Wikipedia. In wikipedia you see how they analyzed the relationship that Tom and Jerry share with each other.
But I think, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, came up with these characters to characterize the lives of life-partners and passed on a message in a camouflage.
There will be a number of squabbles, differences and other petty issues between a wife and her husband. Thats what you get to see between the famous cat and mouse pair. But at the end of the day they always seemingly remain to be living happily ever after. (There are several instances within the cartoons where they display genuine friendship and concern for each other's well-being).
So, ideally, a wife and husband should lead a happy and loving life with each other even if they have differences of opinion.
The cartoon characters would have been long dead if they were sketched in a uni-layered way. It is because that the stories are peppered with a lot of spice without a dull moment that everybody enjoys it. Same is true with life for a couple - it would become monotonous and redundant if there is no spice.
