Comedy is an important aspect in Thomas King’s short story, “A Short History of Indians in Canada”, as well as Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” The differing purposes of humour in these two short stories are what separates them in terms of the effect comedy has on the writing. Thomas King integrates satire, a form of humourous ridicule, to convey the inability of the Native population to adapt to white civilization and the demeaning, yet normal opinion that the white men have regarding this issue. Similarly, Jennifer Wallace’s article, “Tragedy and Laughter” contributes to King’s comedic strategy, as she acknowledges that a serious matter can be presented in an amusing way that allows the audience to gain perspective …show more content…
Despite this comical feature, a sense of depression, involving both the older waiter and the drunk old man, is what comes to the forefront in this occasion. While King uses humour as the foundation of his engaging message, Hemingway uses it to candidly juxtapose the state of mind of the older waiter. He uses casually dismissive phrases such as “No, hombre, only to make a joke.” (Hemingway 110) and listens to rude comments from the younger waiter, such as “You should have killed yourself last week” (Hemingway 108) with little concern. However, the apparent shallowness of the two waiters’ conversation brings upon concern in the mental well-being of the older waiter, since the dialogue fails to entertain as much as it does inform the audience of the increasingly doubtful attitude that the man has towards the meaning of life. His lack of motive and strange observations towards the end of the discussion, including “Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be someone who needs the café” (Hemingway 110) reveal that he actually does not have a careless, indifferent outlook like the younger waiter, and that he is truly pondering what life really has to offer him besides staying in a café all day and night. Consequently, the story loses its amusing …show more content…
King’s oddly comical idiom, “The live ones we tag, says Bill. Take them to the shelter. Nurse them back to health. Release them in the wild,” (205) expresses the savage animal metaphor that is satirically maintained throughout the story. This paternalistic attitude shows that the white population have taken their power to heart and feel that they must help these seemingly inferior people to a certain degree. Ironically, it was the white people who caused this instability among the Native people, so this form of care they are exhibiting isn’t genuine, but rather a way to remove them from the city hastily without acknowledging the reasons for the Natives’ struggle to adapt to white culture. The onomatopoetic word, “Whup!” is used numerous times, likely to make a laughable mockery of battle cries or savage noises, which is another delicate way that the white men characterize the Natives as being animal-like. As the comic effect finally dwindles down in the final words of the story, the observation, “In the old days, when they came through, they would black out the entire sky” (King 205) reveals that this bizarre tale has a telltale meaning, as Canadian society has not fixed this problem by just separating much of the Native population from white society. The humour makes readers ponder why this absurd state of mind
The popular American Poet, Billy Collins, is playing a significant role in the evolution of poetry. His writing style evokes an array of emotions for the reader. Every stanza in his poetry passes the satirical standard that he generated for himself over his career. Collins swiftly captivates his readers through his diverse use of figurative language. More specifically, his use of vivid imagery paired with humorous personification and extended metaphors create his unique style of satirical poetry. This developed form of writing appeals to a large crowd of people because the generally accessible topics that he discusses are fairly easy to resonate for the common man. However, his poetry offers an interesting perspective on what otherwise would be simplistic ideas. The main themes and concepts that are being presented in each of his writings are revered and coveted by the general population. An appealing aspect of his writing is his ability to directly convey the main idea within the poem. As a result, the reader can understand the meaning of his work with ease. The typical beginning of his work gives the reader a slight taste of what is to come. Billy Collins’ unique writing style and various trademarks directly influenced by his ability to propagate an array of emotions for the reader, his humorous tone, and the accessibility of the topics he describes within his poetry.
Use of Humor in Romeo and Juliet & nbsp; Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. One. could give many reasons as to why this play became such a huge success, but one of the most important reasons could be the use of humour in the play. The main reason for doing this could be to relieve the tensions in the play. and to entertain and keep the Elizabethan audience interested. &
In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.
Hemingway has created a situation where she is forced to depend on him because she is a young, immature, girl in an adult situation. It is when the American tells jig that “we will be fine afterward. Just like we were before, it is the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” that she realizes nothing will ever be the same no matter what he says. During one discussion she says “we could have everything” the man agrees, then she says “no we can’t it isn’t ours anymore and once they take it away, you can never get it back.” He says “But they haven’t taken it away” and her response is “we’ll wait and see.” The American doesn’t realize that at this point she has discovered that if he cannot love her and be happy while she is pregnant how he will ever truly love her as much as she loves him. According to Robert Barron many critics believe that the couple’s relationship has a bleak and ultimately poor ending (Barron). The older waiter in “A clean, Well-Lighted Place” is dealing with a similar situation when a wealthy old man who is a regular at the café he works at comes in after a failed suicide
The subtly of interplay between The Comedian’s persona, his humanity, and even his hypocrisy strongly support his status as a living person alongside Dr. Manhattan. To create living people should always be the goal in literature. It is how a writer can illuminate a new facet of existence and can only be achieved through the use of a sympathetic imagination. Hemingway erred however, when he argued, “A character is a caricature” (153).
The differences of these two plays, gives one a sense that any general idea can be broken into a distinct one and not sway away from its intended idea. This means, a comedy can be made into a tragedy, romance, and other themes, and yet still maintain the purpose of providing laughter to the audience. This shows the development of literature over the years, as many more subcategories result because of the contrasts.
Many people tend to use humor as a positive communication skill to make us laugh. It has long been used as a tool to navigate how we better understand media and politics. In today's crucial times of political chaos, social unrest and in-fighting between political parties, the use of Satire humor is more relevant than ever before. According to Oxford dictionary, satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. In the last decade there has been a staunch increase in technology and a rise in social media, this comes with its own benefits and downfalls. The use of satire humor has been represented
From the time Ernest Hemingway became a renowned author, his works, as well as his life, have been analyzed by many. Under such scrutiny, many aspects of Hemingway’s works and life experiences have been in question to the realities and fallacies, which he laid forth. Much of Hemingway’s life, especially his time volunteering as an ambulance driver in Europe, has been in question to the true validity of his myth as a true adventurer and hero. However, as I have found, much of the mythology surrounding Hemingway is very true indeed, which leads me to believe that he did not embellish his life but rather used his experiences to create some of the greatest works of literature to be written throughout the twentieth century.
Nevi, Charles N. "Irony and ‘The Cask of Amontillado’.” The English Journal 56.3 (Mar 1967): 461-465. Literary Reference Center. Web. 11 May 2014.
A tragedy, in literary terms, is defined as a literary work in which a great person suffers extreme sorrow, or is destroyed as a result of a character flaw or a conflict with an overpowering force, often through no fault of their own. William Shakespeare is known as one of the greatest play writers in the world. Many of his tragedies exemplify this common theme: some things in life seem destined to happen, regardless of the path we take. Three of his most famous tragedies, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet, illustrate this theme.
According to Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern in Psychological Science, an effective to regulate emotion is through humor (430). Humor allows individuals to distance themselves from negative emotions and can strengthen social connections to others (Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern 431). In Native American communities, laughter and humor are often utilized to cope with stereotypes imposed upon Native Americans by non-Native people. Illustrations of this occurrence can be found throughout works by Native peoples, such as that by Sherman Alexie. These sources involve Native Americans embracing, rebelling against, and bringing attention to stereotypes about who they are and who the can be, all while using humor to cope with the emotions involved
love for him, "be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
The story of Romeo and Juliet is one that almost everyone is familiar with. Not even having read the book yet, you know immediately that it will end in tragedy. It’s a remarkable tale about two young people in love who’s tragic ends result from fate. William Shakespeare describes the battle of love and hate and spreads a universal message—in which love is always victorious.
Some scholars say that the tragic hero is Julius Caesar, while others say it is
There are many approaches one could take to analyze a specific work. One of these critical approaches is called biographical criticism. This is the belief that authors reflect events and feelings from their own lives into their writing. By taking this approach, a reader can find out more about the author through the work of literature. They can also have more insight into the story by seeing the true meaning behind it and seeing the author's intent. Of the dramas we have read in class, Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire” was a play that really captured the essence of biographical criticism. After researching Williams' life, it is clear that he echoes his own personal experiences throughout the course of the play.