In a world where human behaviors can be almost laughable, satire provides an artistic outlet to combat these incidents. Authors use satire to speak out against issues, in which they would be the minority opinion, in an informal and unintimidating way by using humor and sarcasm. In the short essay, “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History,” the author, Jennifer Price, uses this technique to speak out against conformity. Price cleverly satirizes the shallow and materialistic aspects of a consumerist society by using irony, incongruity, and parody to expose how ludicrous and easily manipulated people are in this commercial society.
Throughout the progression of the piece, Price uses several subtleties to convey her point. Even the title, “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History,” poses an incongruity that opens the piece with a tone of sarcasm that lays out the format for the satire. In the title, the word, “natural” is incongruent to the words “pink” and “plastic.” In fact, the pink plastic flamingos are quite unnatural. Price pokes fun at the ridiculousness of the pink plastic flamingos in and of itself. The title is a perfect header to mark the flamingo as ridiculous as she proceeds to analyze why this random and ridiculous item is a fad in American society.
Price first addresses what exactly it is about the flamingos that makes them popular. Cleary, she sees no reason for this fad when she describes its “two major claims to boldness.” One, because it was a “flamingo,” and two, because it was “pink.” In her use of sarcasm, she acts as if simply being pink and being a flamingo makes it a legitimate fad; it doesn’t. In fact what she is getting at is that the pink flamingos stand for nothing. There is...
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...chsia demure, Congo ruby, methyl green.” Again Price returns to the theme of wealth when she says that the colors were “just right for a generation, raised in the Depression, that was ready to celebrate its new affluence.” She mocks the conformity in a society that desperately seeks wealth and status. She also notes “Karal Ann Marling has written, the “sassy pinks” were “the hottest color of the decade.” She even mentions that Elvis Presley bought a pink Cadillac, supporting her claim that these colors represent wealth and status. Everyone wanted to be a part of the new prosperity and they were able to display it through their bright colored “washing machines, cars, and kitchen counters” and soon their pink plastic flamingos.
Price writes this piece as a criticism and reaction to the pretentious and conformist society that characterized America in the 1950s.
“The Lady in the Pink Mustang” is a poem written by Louise Erdrich that is about a traveling woman that sells her time for money. She is considered an outsider by the norms of society, because she is a working girl. She is not a traditional sex worker; whereas a regular prostitute has only a little strip of pavement, to sell their wares. Whilst the Lady has the roads of country to sell herself. She runs freely like a wild mustang, but can only stay in the limits of the country. This poem could be speaking about itinerants, how they are on the edge of society, not quite living by the rules, but still not be able to be free.
Price's word choice emphasizes her feelings toward American culture. For example, Price's nonchalant use of the phrase, "But no matter," (line 15) after describing how Americans had hunted the flamingos in Florida to extinction in the 1800s, sarcastically mocks the aloof attitude of the Americans toward their misdeeds as they clamored for wealth. However, she uses this example of American culture's greed to also contrast it with the rising popularity of the plastic flamingo in the 1950s. This rising desire for flamingos was not to kill them like before but to make them. This three-sixty turn around was far from the American's normal way of dealing with flamingos. Both killing and making the flamingos however displayed American culture's avarice since hunting and making the flamingo produced a profit, and the plastic flamingo produced was also a display of wealth. Thus, the plastic flamingos not only displayed opulence, but also produced opulence through their rising popularity which caused an increase in production of and profit from the plastic flamingos. Also, Price again uses a sarcastic tone through her diction when she says, "[the flamingo] was a flamingo," (line 3) as well as when she says, "the flamingo was pink." (line 30) Price uses these two phrases to mock the popularity ...
Satirical writing allows the author to express his or her opinion about a problem in society. A writing must follow three rules in order for it to be classified as satirical. First, a continuous focus on one’s subject’s faults. Secondly, instead of telling the reader directly, information must be given indirectly. Thirdly, the writing must have a variety of satirical techniques in general (Festa). With these simple guidelines, an author can demonstrate his beliefs of what he thinks needs to be changed in society.
In The Pink Box, there are three major sections, each of which most likely represents a specific time in her life. The first section, “The Wilderness,” you find many intricate poems about what it was like growing up in a very diverse world, with her family upbringing, and even the use of drugs in her home. We see a big example of this in her poem “Needles,” a harsh poem about what some she had to live with growing up. The last line of this specific poem “The way my father grunted with pleasure as the dangled against his arm like a dancer with tiny shoes
Vance Packard, a journalist turned social critic, exposed truth to post-war society. The best-selling author of the 1950s challenged consumerism beliefs and unmasked the truth about social status. Packard believed that society was being highly influenced by the nation’s advertising industry. Companies would slip messages into popular networks in order to silently persuade people to buy their products. They wanted anything to boost their sales, even if it meant manipulating people to value things that were not necessary. Packard’s words echoed throughout communities, challenging people to recognize the malignant voice of consumerism. His passion for truth continued to flourish as he continued writing. His voice grew louder and louder as he began
"The pink flamingo splashed into the fifties market, it staked" (Price lines 1-2). Plastic flamingos are unable to splash like real flamingos, therefore Price is demonstrating satire. Also, the plastic flamingos are staked into the ground. "Americans had been flocking to Florida" (Price line 4) is humorous because the Americans flocking to the southern east coast like flamingos. The plastic pink flamingo became "synonymous with wealth and pizzazz"(Price line7-8). After the Great depression and the war, Americans had a lot of pride for their country, and this was one way of showing it.
The 1950’s have received a reputation as an age of political, social and cultural conformity. This reputation is rightfully given, as with almost every aspect of life people were encouraged to conform to society. Conforming is not necessarily a negative thing for society, and the aspects of which people were encouraged to conform in the 1950’s have both negative and positive connotations.
The 1950s in America was a time that brought about simplicity and perfection amongst the American society. The “all-American Dream” with the flawless family, which was emphasized by the constraints, and expectations that were demanded by the American Republican era of Eisenhower, would pave way for manifesting changes of the 1960s. Through the emphasis of media and societal expectations and political and wartime upheaval, Americans would fit the cookie cutter mold that would breed the fighters and lovers of the 1960s.
The innovational time of the 1950s was known for the uprising of mass culture within America. Due to the financially fluctuating years prior, Americans were unable to spend much and were excited to take advantage of the new consumer goods introduced in the 1950s. There were new movies, television programs, genres and superstars of music, new products and new ways to get them that all became frenzies with the American people. Mass culture was responsible for bringing the nation new diversity in many different areas of society, bringing out a new idea of societal a...
Brown, Earl B., Jr. "Kosinski's Modern Proposal: The Problem of Satire in the Mid-Twentieth Century." Ebscohost. N.p., 1980. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2014.
The fifties era was an era of consensus and order. As a family, there was a certain image to live up to in order fit into the American dream; however, a family only had to appear American and while it may be argued that Doris Goodwin succeeded in life because she grew up in a typical household in the fifties, that is not the case, and in fact, Goodwin’s life in the fifties did not live up to the stereotypical idea of the fifties time period. The image of being American during the fifties was based on consensus which was seen through the typical American neighborhood. All families were religious, the dads went to work while the moms stayed home and the children were at school, and each family had a favorite baseball team; however, it was not the idea of consensus that allowed Goodwin to succeed in life. (Anderson Class note, “Life at Home in the 50’s” 3 April 2014; Anderson Class notes, “Book Discussion” 8 April 2014)
Price uses words such as “extravagance”, “pizazz”, “flamboyant”, and “flashy” to convey that American culture was part gaudy, part distasteful and fully excessive. Whatever opposition to flamingos was weak because they could be seen from Florida to New Jersey and were prevalent in both the upper class and middle class. When flamingos emerged, they were meant for those living a lavish lifestyle, but eventually the popularity of the flamingos spreads and “draw[s] the working-class down too” (16-17). The cultural norm in America is to follow the trend that was fostered by celebrities. The importance of a flamingo being pink should be very minimal as there is no other colour they existed as but Price appeals to ethos by including quotes from Tom Wolfe and Karal Ann Marling, both figures of authority in their respective
The T-Shirt attached is designed to be appealing to the character Leeza in the novel The First Stone. By first glance, Leeza would be inclined to purchase the shirt because of its pink colour. When Leeza first arrived at the rehabilitation center where she would be living for the next three months she “fought to keep a lemon-sized lump of homesickness from rising in her throat” (Aker 87).She thought about how different this strange, new place was compared to her own house since “there everything was colour and light” (Aker 87) while the rehabilitation center had beige walls (Aker 112). From this, it can be inferred that Leeza was feeling homesick because she missed the vibrant colours that her house had. Therefore, the pink shirt will attract
The excitement is building up inside of me, just like Eudora Welty feels when she reads, as described in a passage from One Writer’s Beginnings. I know exactly what I am looking for; two purses for my mother and sister. Nothing to big, or to small. One is going to be black, one brown. Try as I might to keep my mind on the task at hand, it is difficult to concentrate on just purses when there are fascinating items all around me! Leather jackets, jewelry, bolt upon bolt of the most gorgeous fabrics I have ever seen, and so much more. I can’t help but walk over to the people when they call to me; I am drawn by their eagerness and obvious love for their product. They have to be really great scarves if the man holding them thinks so much of them,...
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” (Oxford). The best satirical writers can make the readers believe that an idea is “logical and practical.” This is seen in great abundance in Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World. Through his writing, Huxley uses satire to effectively point out the flaws of society at the time. Even though Brave New World was written in 1931, the satirical points Huxley makes are still relevant in today’s world.