Satire In Lord Of The Flies

Both authors depict life in their time with the use of satire. Satire is a use of humor, irony, exaggeration to simply ridicule people’s stupidity in the context of topical issues. Mark Twain uses satire to criticize people like Pap’s greediness by visiting his son for the sole purpose of him having money. “[...] and I hain’t heard nothing but about you bein’ rich. I heard about it away down the river, too. That’s why I come. You git me that money tomorrow- I want it.” (Twain 20). Huck thought that his father was dead. It’s evident that his father cares more about money than his own son. He cares about his son’s wealth because it’s beneficial for him. Some fathers in families are arrogant and selfless; they care more about themselves than

the children they should be taken care of. Also, the author considered superstition as a satire seeing that people shouldn’t always believe in everything they see or hear:
He said it was a sign when young chickens flew that way [...] I was going to catch some of them but Jim wouldn’t let me. He said it was death. He said his father laid mighty sick once, and some of them catched a bird, and his old granny said his father would die, and he did. (Twain 45).
Jim used the information that he got from his grandmother and used it to tell Huck. It’s a way of sharing false news because Jim’s father could have been sick and simply died for a reason other than having catched a bird. Superstitions are myths and can usually be proven by ancient stories but not facts or evidence.
In like manner, Muriel Barbery’s novel obtains a numerous amount of satire.

For example, curiosity was brought upon a character named Madame de Broglies. Madame de Broglies purposely went out of her way to find out who now owns Pierre Arthens old floor. “[...] convincing herself all the while that this was a small price to pay to expiate her sin of curiosity.“ (Barbery 142) Madame de Broglies was dishonest towards Paloma’s mother because she intentionally lied about her daughter-in-law not feeling well and wanting to know some tips from a psycho-analyst which is Paloma’s mother’s profession. She went on and arranged a meeting at Madame Josse’s (Paloma’s mother) house knowing that the new owner lived right under the floor of the Josse’s family. Adults are usually the one’s being dishonest and will find every way possible to know information that does not concern them and to simply satisfy their curiosity. Conspicuous consumption was made fun of because Paloma’s sister Colombe, prefers French cuisine for the price of 36 euros and doesn’t care at all about the expense of French cuisine. Paloma explains herself saying, “I would have preferred a year’s subscriptions to McDonald’s. At least it’s in bad taste without being pretentious.” (Barbery 94) It comes to show how rich peoples act of behaviour is presumptuous. They come from a rich family but Paloma’s the only one that is not phased by being rich and acknowledges the limits. This quote is a prime example of how rich people use their money as an advantage to buy whatever luxurious item that pleases them. Satire can be used in different ways which both books portrayed to demonstrate how the human life was back then and can still be relevant

now.