"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example."
--Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson
Exaggeration and self-deprecation, which are often employed in concert, are parts of humor, used especially effectively by Mark Twain. The writer sets himself up as the fool or as the clumsy or irresponsible dolt such that he becomes a sort of scapegoat for the reader, who either knowingly or unknowingly, given his own degree of honesty, laughs either at the writer or with the writer, having recognized in the latter case that he himself has been foolish or irresponsible at times. In this way, the writer makes a personal connection with the perceptive reader and shares a bit of human folly or failing. I often use this device for some reason. I guess it comes naturally to me. And I am often faced with readers who have taken me quite literally, missing the humor entirely.
There is a scene in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, wherein the protagonist comments regarding a noisome dog that if he owned 'half that dog' he would put his half to death. Pudd'nhead's point, of course, is that if you put half a dog to death, you put the whole dog to death, but no one in the little town gathering at the scene gets it. What a stupid man he is, they say. An idiot. A Pudd'nhead. And that's how Pudd'nhead came by his name among the town folk. The absurd statement is meant to be digested on a higher level, not to be taken literally.
So, if I write in an exaggerated, self-deprecating manner, as I did in the post previous to this one, about turning my little apartment into a wreck, carelessly tossing my clothing toward the shelf, neglecting the dishes, nonchalantly leaving things for the maid to clean up, I'm not really penning a confession of incorrigible slobbery but merely plugging into the lazy streak in all human beings such that the reader may chuckle with hesitant recognition. Exaggeration and self-deprecation are invitations to honesty and humility.
--Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson
Exaggeration and self-deprecation, which are often employed in concert, are parts of humor, used especially effectively by Mark Twain. The writer sets himself up as the fool or as the clumsy or irresponsible dolt such that he becomes a sort of scapegoat for the reader, who either knowingly or unknowingly, given his own degree of honesty, laughs either at the writer or with the writer, having recognized in the latter case that he himself has been foolish or irresponsible at times. In this way, the writer makes a personal connection with the perceptive reader and shares a bit of human folly or failing. I often use this device for some reason. I guess it comes naturally to me. And I am often faced with readers who have taken me quite literally, missing the humor entirely.
There is a scene in Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, wherein the protagonist comments regarding a noisome dog that if he owned 'half that dog' he would put his half to death. Pudd'nhead's point, of course, is that if you put half a dog to death, you put the whole dog to death, but no one in the little town gathering at the scene gets it. What a stupid man he is, they say. An idiot. A Pudd'nhead. And that's how Pudd'nhead came by his name among the town folk. The absurd statement is meant to be digested on a higher level, not to be taken literally.
So, if I write in an exaggerated, self-deprecating manner, as I did in the post previous to this one, about turning my little apartment into a wreck, carelessly tossing my clothing toward the shelf, neglecting the dishes, nonchalantly leaving things for the maid to clean up, I'm not really penning a confession of incorrigible slobbery but merely plugging into the lazy streak in all human beings such that the reader may chuckle with hesitant recognition. Exaggeration and self-deprecation are invitations to honesty and humility.
No comments:
Post a Comment