Humor In David Sedaris 'Jesus Shaves'

Much like beauty, humor is in the eye of the beholder and much like most people would like to be considered beautiful, most people would like to be considered funny. There is no book you can read to become beautiful, but there exists however, a formula which humorists, such as David Sedaris, utilize to connect with audiences and evoke laughter. Humor is an effective tool which can be employed to quickly get past personal, religious and cultural bias. Sedaris employs literary tools in his short story “Jesus Shaves” in order to entertain but most importantly address delicate religious believes in a non-confrontational way.
Perhaps the most effective literary tool which Sedaris employs is imagery. Sedaris sets the stage for the reader by painting a vivid mental picture of the French class in which the story takes place. Sedaris describes the physical attributes “… a pouty, plump Moroccan woman…” (Sedaris 415) as well personality “By the end of her first day, she'd raised her hand so many times, her shoulder had given out. “ (Sedaris 415) of fellow students. Sedaris provides details to the reader about the textbook and class discussion.

“Printed in our textbooks was a list of major holidays alongside a scattered arrangement of photos depicting French people in the act of celebration.

The object was to match the holiday with the corresponding picture.” (Sedaris 415)
Sedaris goes as far as to illustrate the teacher’s hands motions when she tries clarify the meaning of rabbit “The teacher…positioned her index fingers on top of her head, wiggling them as though they were ears. “ (Sedaris 415) This level of detail establishes Sedaris’ credibility and a connection with the reader which then adds credence to the story and his point of

view.
Sedaris also utilizes similes to illustrate his point of view. Sedaris compares the French believe of a flying Roman bell leaving chocolates to “…saying that come Christmas, a magic dustpan flies in from the North Pole, led by eight flying cinder blocks.” (Sedaris 415)
Finally Sedaris’ use of diction, or lack thereof, specifically the lack of vocabulary and grammar skills of most of the class when trying to explain Easter to a fellow student, to illustrate the absurdity of commonly held religious believes. When broken down to its most basic parts, outside of the context of culture and without the use of “such complicated reflexive phrases as ‘To give of yourself your only begotten son.’” (Sedaris 415) religion can be summed up to one word “faith.”
In conclusion, Sedaris is a master of painting a clear mental image which allows the reader to experience and laugh at the absurdity of the characters, circumstances and situation. The story contains many of the required elements for good comedy; realism, exaggeration, emotion and friction, but perhaps the most salient point is truth.