Saving the Modern World: One Satire at a Time There are so many problems that the world faces today, some more urgent than others. Some individuals choose to focus on the newest fashion style or celebrity breakup rather than focus on one that could bring about the doom of a nation. The use of satire in great literary works, television entertainment, and comics is an effective way to enlighten the world on the difficulties it faces. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, satire is a “way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, or bad”. Satire shocks its reader into awareness of the situation through the use of sarcasm, blunt and harsh words, and/or exaggeration of the issue. The two types of satire utilize these …show more content…
The author demonstrates the problems in the school systems when Scout enters school she is reprimanded by her teacher, Mrs. Honeycomb for reading proficiently. She is commanded to “tell [her] father not to teach [her] anymore” and stop reading outside of school. Lee’s incongruity of the situation alerts her readers to the flaws within the school system. Lee satirizes the church when Scout and Jem are taken to church by Calpurnia, their black housekeeper, when the children’s father is unavailable. At this Christian church, the children are ridiculed for being white. Even Calpurnia is told she “ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n". This particular satire could be both a reversal and an incongruity. In the situation the African American church goers are shunning the Caucasians, which is the opposite of the oppression of the blacks in the time period making a reversal. The morals of the Christian church are to love you neighbor; the judgment, inside the church no less, is out of place and calls the reader's attention to the hypocrisy of the church. Harper Lee’s examples of juvenalian satire effectively alert the reader to the injustices being done in school and