How Does George Saunders Use Satire In I Can Sneaker

The short story “I CAN SPEAK!”, by George Saunders is about a salesman who writes back to a mother who is unhappy about purchasing a baby mask from a company. The salesman writes back about her issues. Saunders uses satire to critique upon the flaws of the consumeristic society that exists today, from both the consumer and producer sides.
The system is not perfect because consumers are too gullible to realize they are spending too much on useless products. In the text, the mother is disappointed of the product and writes to the company. The salesman replies, “First, may I be so bold as to suggest that your disappointment may stem from your own, perhaps unreasonable expectations? Because in your letter, what you indicated, when I read it, was

that you think and/or thought that somehow the product can read your baby’s mind?” (Saunders 85). The mother believes that such a product exists. In actuality, it is just a toy, as the salesman implies. In hopes of having her child start speaking, she buys this toy without realizing that it is just a toy. This quote reveals how consumers are spending so much on products that have no useful functionality. Later in the letter, the salesman mentions, “It makes you love him more. Because suddenly he is articulate. Suddenly he is not just sitting there going glub glub glub which examining a piece of his own feces on his own thumb” (Saunders 87). ). It is evident that Saunders is ironically mocking parents at this point of the letter. Instead of playing with toys and making a mess, parents wish them to do more adult activities, such as talking. This is the reason why the mom spends so much money on this toy. She does not realize that it is just the companies way to lure people into buying their products. The mom in this case is not being money wise and is further supporting the acts of companies.
The other side of the problem is that producers create and convince people to buy such products, saying that it is a necessity. In the middle of the letter to the mother, the salesman provides reason for why she should upgrade to the newest model. He says, “It makes you love him more. Because suddenly he is articulate. Suddenly he is not just sitting there going glub glub glub which examining a piece of his own feces on his own thumb” (Saunders 87). The salesman is clearly trying convince the mom to upgrade, using ridiculous statements as this. The fact that he says that anyone would love a child more if they were able to talk is preposterous. Children are loved because they are young and new to the world. However, the salesman is using any reason to convince the mom to upgrade. This is also evident later in the letter when the salesman explains what a baby would think about talking. He states, “What the heck is wrong with me, why am I the only one going glub glub glub while all these other folks are talking in whole complete sentences. And hence, possibly, lifelong psychological damage may result.” (Saunders 88). Once again, the salesman is suggesting that without this product, the child may be psychologically impaired. However, this notion is absurd because babies and children now are perfectly able to grow up and speak well. This is just a reason the salesman give as to why the mother should buy the product. Saunders is portraying how nowadays companies are saying anything to convince consumers to buy their products, no matter how ridiculous the product is.
Another way companies convince consumers to purchase their products is by acting as if they were in their shoes.

In the text, the salesman writes in the letter, “Now, Mrs. Faniglia, you may be thinking, Hold on a sec, of course this guy loves his I CAN SPEAK! He probably gets his for free! But not so, Mrs. Faniglia, I get mine for two grand, just like you.” (Saunders 88). The salesman is relating to the mother by saying that he also gets his for the same price. This gets the mother thinking that since the salesman is paying full price, she is getting a good deal by getting a complimentary upgrade to the latest model. This is also seen when the salesman talks about his own child using the mask. He says, “Since we upgraded to ICS2100, things have been great, Billy looks almost identical to himself, and is not nearly so, you know boring as before, when we had the ICS1900, which (frankly) says some rather predictable things, which I expect is partly why you were so unhappy with it” (Saunders 88). The salesman is again trying to make it feel as if the mother is talking to another person with similar issues rather than a large company just trying to sell a product, which is ironically what they are doing. This makes the consumer more inclined to purchase the product. Saunders is criticizing companies for using this technique to sell products, especially useless items such as this baby

mask.
George Saunders remarks upon the faults of consumerism, caused by the producers and consumers. The producers create products then advertise and convince consumers into buying their products while the consumers are blinded and actually purchase them. As in “I CAN SPEAK!”, the mother buys a product which has no significance while the salesman is saying anything he can to sell it and earn his commision. Saunders successfully employs satire to demonstrate the frenzy that exists when companies use tactics to sell products at any cost and consumers are gullible enough to buy them.