George Gladwell: The Use Of Satire In American History

Satire is 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. A literary work in which human foolishness or vice is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. Mockery is teasing and contemptuous language or behavior directed at a particular person or thing. Also the behavior or speech that makes fun of someone or something in a hurtful way. “The Rape of the Lock” by Alexander Pope and “My Satirical Self” by Wyatt Mason from The New York times are both about satire and mockery. Therefore, after reading the above sources, one can infer that the satire reflects today’s society in many ways.

For example, one way he shows satire is in the beginning of the prompt he says “country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism”(Twain). Twain is showing how the soldiers were ready for war that even their chest was on fire because of how much patriotism they had. When soldiers go to war I don't think there breast burned them for feeling patriotic. This shows how ironic he is because that didn't really happen. Twain trys to explain to the people how the soilders were so happy to go fight and knew they were going to win

True humor is supposed to be used as way to make people look at situation from a different perspective and to laugh about it. An example of this is from the reading “SantaLand Diaries” where David realized that life was not going as expected. He is thirty –three years old and applying for an elf job. He tries to imagine a whole new world where he is able succeed and accomplish his dreams within three weeks of being in New York. In the reading he says “I’m trying to look on the bright side” he is using this imaginative world to help him get through a really tough time within his life.

David Sedaris’s use of verbal irony achieves the greatest comic effect due to the way he uses it to be humorous and foolish. The irony is the greatest due to the contrast he creates with his words. On page 13, Sedaris states, “Her english was flawless. ‘I really, really hate you.’” (Sedaris 13).

Thoughtful Laughter For centuries satirical novels have inspired audiences by using wit and humor to ignite thoughtful laughter. This thoughtful laughter implements comical sarcasm to highlight prominent issues in society. Voltaire’s Candide and Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens both use satirical techniques such as tone, irony, litotes, hyperboles, and, parodies to criticize stereotypes, greed, and corruption.

Satire reflects today’s society and democracy. Satire in modern day shows how people are constantly engaged in finding something or someone new, but don’t discover new things about themselves. Next, in television and radio broadcasts, parodies of the government, and of democracy occur. Society is searching for a person of importance to ridicule and criticize important issues, explaining why satire is present in everyday life. But, some satire is harming democracy, although famous people or things will continue to lampoon important occurrences until people stop enjoying it. On the other hand, satire can bring awareness to a current event, corresponding to it being completely put down. Satire is bringing awareness to racism and politics, even

Satire is used by many famous writers to create humor and to criticize people’s unwise, and senseless actions. As George Orwell once said, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." (Orwell, 1945). People will always be greedy and think they are smarter than others but this is untrue. The one who thinks he is smarter or better than the other will always end up losing in life. In the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, satire is incorporated in a perfect way. This story is about Tom Walker, who makes a pact with the devil, and ends up lending money at high interest rates. When Tom Walker thinks he is smarter than his customers and does not give more time to one of his customers to pay him back, Tom’s life ends in an instant. Through the use of satire Irving criticizes the institution of marriage and the folly of human nature.

Stereotypical Satire Satire can make a passage more entertaining in the way it makes the reader laugh, more informative in the way it contrasts the heavy subjects, and more of a riveting read. Edward O. Wilson uses satire to do these things, drawing in on the two stark sides of environmentalism, illustrating the impossible ridiculousness of such discussions. He uses satire to poke fun at the opposing sides, writing as a radicalist on either the far right or far left. With his use of satire, Wilson draws in the reader, gets them laughing, and then brings up some both very true and very important issues, deluding them through satire as to not turn away the reader, conveying just how meaningless environmental squabbles are. Wilson starts

Irony is defined as “an event or a result that is the opposite of what is expected to happen” (Webster 344). Flannery O’Conner’s short story, “Good Country People” deploys irony as a means of projecting her message that perception does not always coincide with reality. This theme of misconception is highlighted in the manipulative relationship between Hulga Hopewell and Manly Pointer. Hulga obtains a doctorate degree in philosophy and believes she is knowledgeable of the world, this is until she is deceived by Manly whom she perceives to be an innocent Christian simpleton, but he is none of those things. O’Conner projects a series of ironic undertones throughout her short story, the interactions between Manly Pointer and Hulga Hopewell utilizes irony to expose the truth behind the character’s real selves through their relationship with each other.

Another positive for freedom of speech for comedians is that the jokes made can lighten the mood of the subject. A comedians function in society is to challenge authority, and talk about subjects that may be unacceptable (Hartsell). Comedians are expected to go too far, but when they do, they are disapproved for it. Although, the audiences may only laugh at a joke because of how awkward it is going to be if no one did. “People like to mask their feelings due to not wanting others to really know how they feel—so people may laugh in times of nervousness because they are trying to balance their anxious feelings” (Kaminski).

Satire is used in literature to criticize and point out society’s flaws. The criticism is usually masked in humour. Irony is commonly used in satires to expose flaws, an effective example is John Smith’s A Modest Proposal, he effectively uses irony, to communicate his argument about the poverty in Ireland at the time. Similarly, in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale she criticizes the society that women live in. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament, Cultural Revolution, Salem Witch Trials, and the Taliban to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social aspects.

Irony is often used in literature to illustrate certain situations to the audience. In some pieces of literature that might be pointing out an unjust system, in others that might be to add a comedic effect, but whatever situation the author wants to illustrate, irony is very beneficial. Through small and witty, one-liners, or a bigger dramatic irony situation contrasting two very different situations, irony can be very beneficial for the reader to understand the story. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins have a corrupt dystopian society. Through the use of irony, the author can portray the corruptness to the audience.

Humor and irony play very important roles in Everyday Use. The humor found

One of the most valuable aspects of personality is humor – we value one’s sense of humor and make friends often based on finding certain things funny. But how and why do we consider things to be funny at all? Human beings have strived to uncover fundamental truths about human nature for centuries – even millennia – but humor itself is still yet to be pinpointed. Henri Bergson is only one of many who has attempted this feat, and his essay Laughter: an essay on the meaning of the comic from 1911 breaks down comedy into what he believes to be its essential forms and origins. While Bergson makes many valid points, Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times that was brought to screens only twenty years later seems to contradict many of Bergson’s theories, while Bergson seems to contradict even himself over the course of his essay.

The conception of humor as an expression of superiority is further developed by Thomas Hobbes (1651). Hobbes identifies humor with sudden glory and stated that “The passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly” (Feinberg, 1978; Berger, 1993). This statement on humor formed the benchmark of Superiority theory of humor. Hobbes’s idea of humor built on the ideas of Ludovici (1933) and Rapp (1951). Ludovici proposed that superiority humor results from the awareness and recognition of having adapted to the societal norms in a better way in comparison to the others person who is being laughed at.