Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Humor in American Literature Essay

Ameri faeces society is unique, and the first of its kind. When Charles demon manducateed the United States he was astounded to protrude how informal Ameri privy society was, as is recorded in his travelogue, the Statesn Notes For everyday Circulation. Besides this, it is a good deal said by non-the Statesns that Americans construct coarse senses of bodily fluid, or senses of whim that are low-class. The American sense of vagary is said to clash with a polarized British one. The informality of American belief is dead logical based on a theory that American society highly- create in response to former(a)-World British and European society. This theme often manifests itself in humorous American literature. mentality in American literature frequently bases itself on a sense of entitlement within the dismount class, their flawed and ignorant moral senses, and a caricaturing of American exceptionalism, a theory of American superiority among new(prenominal) nations.American humor hasnt changed passing, wholly rather has keep the common denominator of the humor of American exceptionalism and has parodied a feeling of individual self-worth that is seemingly internal to Americans of tout ensemble(a) classes. This subject matter can be found in much(prenominal) bailiwicks as Mark yokes The Adventures of tom Sawyer, Sut Lovingood Yarns Spun by a Natral natural Durnd Fool, by George Washington Harris, and Stephen Colberts I am America (and So Can You). some of George Washington Harriss work was make in the middle of the nineteenth century. His close to celebrated character is the stereotypical awkward farmer, Sut Lovingood. Harriss Sut Lovingood stories were told from the characters prospect and were defined by Suts monstrous Appalachian English accent. His stories were initially create separately in bigeminal newspapers until Harris compiled the stories in his 1867 prevail Sut Lovingood Yarns Spun by a Natral Born Durnd Fool. The book mostly pokes entertainment at the ignorance and simplicity of the title character. Sut Lovingood dictates the book to a compiler.He is un subject to write it himself because he is illiterate. He is uneasy close to this though. Sut give voices I shamt corresponding the mentationr ove yu writin a perduckshun, an me a-findin the brains. (Harris 2) Sut is an immensely simple character, but does non see himself as such. He thinks he has important intimacys to say and that anyone who doesnt bear witness his book will only when be worse- cancelled for having tiree so, but in reality his stories mostly consist of folderol. Sut states that he wanted his dedication page to read as such Dedercated wif the symperhtys ove the orthur, to the man ur oman, huever they be, what dont read this yere book. (Harris 5) contempt his climax after George Washington Harris, Mark duo is often hailed as the father of American Humor. Twains tales of life on the Mississippi River became the defini tive stories of his era. His stories are often well-nigh naivet and the innocence of childhood, on a superficial level, but on a deeper level they are about ignorance and other obliviouscomings of adults.Twains stories were simultaneously socialize and critical of society. One of his most famous works of this classification is The Adventures of tom turkey Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is set in a small Missouri town, where the standards for luxury are quite low, and the people easily impressed. The townsfolk are awed by the county-Judge Thatcher, a relatively low figure in the governmental hierarchy. When he pays a visit to the town church everyone at that place bend over backwards to show off and impress him (Twain 38). The people are curiously impressed by the fact that there exists a tin roof atop one of the buildings in Judge Thatchers town. Tom Sawyers auntie Polly is an excellent caricature of American humor. Despite being the voice of discipline in Toms life, Aunt Polly is etern ally being fooled by the boy. Among the most closely known of the Tom Sawyer stories is the novel about doing the chore of whitewashing a fence. Because of his inactive nature, Tom cozens his peers into completing his task for him, unbeknown to his aunt. After Tom events from his supposed chore after only a short season, Polly commends him saying, Well, I never Theres no getting round it, you can work when youre a bear in mind to, Tom.And she goes on to give Tom a lecture upon the added value and zestfulness a treat took to itself when it came without sin finished virtuous effort. And while she closed with a scriptural flourish, he hooked a doughnut. (Twain 26) Not only is Tom able to totally fool his aunt, but he is confident enough in her incompetence that he even snatches an additional snack. She and all of the adults in the story go on to fall for Toms wiles on numerous occasions. The more modern Stephen Colbert wrote a book entitled I Am America (and So Can You), whic h bears many another(prenominal) similarities to George Washington Harriss book. Colberts work is written from the character on his satirical news shows extremely handed-down, right wing perspective. He spoofs the idea of a traditional American family, waiver so far as to say that anything falling short of his expectations is simply wrong.He remarks on the role of a good, traditional amaze A good mother cooks, cleans, drives, organizes charity events so her children earn biotic community service points for college, and expects nothing in return except love and breakfast in bed one day a year. (Colbert 9), and he lambasts the idea of one-parent families saying, If you ask me, from time immemorial, the word family has meant only one thing a Mom married to a Pop and raising 2.3 rambunctious piffling scamps. (Colbert 5) Colbert is joking of course, but his implications are that the traditional American standards have room for fitting and that many conservative Americans are exce ssively hidebound.He goes on to lampoon the launching of religion. Religion is the cornerstone of civilization. Without it, we would have no laws, no morality, no social structure, and no guidelines for furnishing our tabernacles. Many people have tested to pinpoint exactly what it is so typical between American and British humor. British comedian Simon Pegg wrote about in the UK withstander in his 2007 article, What Are You Laughing At? Americans can fully appreciate irony. They secure dont feel entirely comfortable using it on each other, in case it causes damage. A s like how we feel about guns. Its not so much about having a different sense of wittiness as a different onslaught to life.More demonstrative than we are, Americans are not embarrassed by their emotions. They clap louder, barrack harder and empathise more unconditionally. Its an bleakness that always leaves me feeling slightly blamable and apologetic when American personalities appear on British chat shows a nd find their jokes and stories met with titters, not guffaws, or their achievements met with silent appreciation, rather than claps and yelps. We dont like them any less, we besides arent inclined to give that much of ourselves away. Meanwhile, as a Brit on an American chat show, its backbreaking to endure prolonged whooping without intense, red-faced smirking.It isnt that one culture is funnier per se, just that analyze the two would be like analyse apples and oranges. In former Vanderbilt English professor Nancy A. Walkers book, Whats So Funny? Humor in American Culture, Walker expounds upon the origin of the distinctive American tall tale, citing the American pioneers of the Hesperian frontier who would write back to the eastern United States Coast telling tales of exaggeration in an attempt to impress the readers of their tales. Edward J. Piacentino wrote that the purview of untarnished American humor still reaches us through mediums such as The Beverly Hillbillies, or the work of comedian Jeff Foxworthy.Americas unique face of humor stems from multiple factors of American history. Firstly, American humor developed intentionally and in stark tune to that of the British, just like much of American society. Because of the revolutionary nature of the founding of America, real values have been instilled in the verdants inhabitants. American culture developed as a volte-face from British culture. Additionally, as Walker presented, the development of American humor and exaggerated tall-tales derives from the geography of the coarse and the frontier development of it. Those elements of the countrys history laid the groundwork for the America that we know today. That is why we still have much of the same face of humor in America after all these years.Works CitedColbert, Stephen, and Michael C. Brumm. I Am America (and so Can You). New York Grand underlying Pub., 2007. Print.Harris, George Washington. Sut Lovingood. Yarns Spun by a natral Born Durnd Fool. Warped and Wove for Public Wear. New York incision & Fitzgerald, 1867. Print.Pegg, Simon. What Are You Laughing At? The defender. Guardian News and Media, 02 Sept. 2007. Web. 08 Nov. 2012.Piacentino, Edward J. The Enduring Legacy of Old Southwest Humor. Baton Rouge lanthanum State UP, 2006. Print.Twain, Mark, and Deidre S. Laiken. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York, NY baronet /Playmore, 1989. Print.Walker, Nancy A. Whats so Funny? Humor in American Culture. Wilmington, DE Scholarly Resources, 1998. Print.

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