How Does James Thurber Use Humor In The Dog That Bit People

Humor plays a key role in many types of nonfiction writing. The authors of these pieces use humor to engage the readers in stories such as “The Dog That Bit People,” “Cub Pilot on the Mississippi,” and “The Glorious Bird.” This humor intrigues and inspires readers to continue the story through twists and unexpected events. There were many instances of funny events throughout these stories. To begin, the author of “The Dog That Bit People” -- James Thurber -- used many types of humor to grab the readers’ attention. Humor is utilized in this story to describe a man’s dogs and their effects on other people. For example, one of Thurber’s dogs gave him particularly inconvenient lengths of trouble: “there was more pleasure than distress in them for me except in the case of an Airedale named Muggs. He gave me more trouble than all the other fifty-four or -five put together” (Thurber 413). James Thurber has had many dogs throughout his life, but one in specific was more distressful than the rest. In explaining this, the author uses hyperbolic humor to exaggerate the lengths of trouble through which his dog went. Also, the author does not remember how many dogs he has had over his life; this is another example of hyperbolic humor, as the number of dogs is being

This is shown when Twain recalls an incident of extreme violence between him and the pilot, Brown: “consequently I stuck to him and pounded him with my fists a considerable time … the pleasure of it probably made it seem longer than it really was” (Twain 433). Mark Twain and Brown had never had a compliant relationship, and finally, Twain had enough of Brown’s cruelty, so he beat him. In this scene, violence and hurt are being used to provide slapstick humor; Twain’s fight between Brown seemed funny due to the violence. This humor leaves the reader to assume the consequences and punishments for