Writers tend to use specific techniques to get their point across and engage readers. Sherman Alexie's humor seems to be the approach evident throughout his fiction in order to entertain and inform his readers, but singularly in his assortment of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. The pain and anger of the stories in his collection is stabilized by his keen sense of humor.
He uses to induce humor to disrupt the tension on what is happening during the scene. An example of this is when Owen is raised up in the air when he is younger. He hates it as he would always say “CUT IT OUT! I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE” (5). This is ironic since he wants Johnny to lift him up to practice the dunk. What is more ironic that he is lifted up to die. Owen is boost up in the air with a grenade in his hand so that the blast does not kill the Vietnamese children. John Irving is very satire when he is writing this book, having a kid hating being up in the air later dying up in the air to save those children from the blast. This is ingenious of John Irving since it disrupts the reader to think that Owen is actually God’s instrument since ever Owen Meany was little he is practicing his very purpose. Another prime example of irony is the character of Reverend Merrill. He is suppose to be a practice of Christ yet he doesn’t see the miracle that Owen Meany is. Reverend Merrill witnesses the events of Owens life and death, the baseball that he found in his desk. After theses events he still does believe that Owen Meany is a Christ figure but when Johnny Wheelwright comes up with a prank, he instant believes, and his faith is restored. This is very ironic since a mere prank made Reverend Merrill believe it was real while Owen’s miraculous miracles meant nothing to him.
In the scholarly essay, “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” the author Joseph L. Coulombe, writes about the humor used in Sherman Alexie’s short stories. Coulombe argues that in Sherman Alexie’s stories that humor is essential for character development and the creation of bonds between these characters.
“Humor brings insight and tolerance. Irony brings a deeper and less friendly understanding” writes Agnes Repplier, a famous essayist, about her feelings about humor and irony. In addition, irony happens in everyday life, even though it may not be evident. Besides the irony that happens in everyday life, it can also be presented in short stories such as: Sherman Alexie’s “Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ At Woodstock,” Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and Gabriel Garcia MArquez’s “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children.” Although all three stories have different characters and conflicts, there are numerous situations of irony that are
The key rhetorical device that Alexie used was pathos in order to cause the reader to feel some emotion of pity, sympathy, and sorrow. This is used towards the middle when he explains the struggle he had to face at a young age when teaching himself how to read and explains how others thought of Indians with this capability, he then writes, “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indian alike. They wanted me to stay quiet
There are three principal sources of interest in narratives: suspense, mystery, and irony. In the narratives “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Ronald Dahl, irony is a primary source of interest. Irony is defined as a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. In both of these cases, the use of irony by the authors greatens the impact the pieces have on their audience. In both “A Rose for Emily” and “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the authors have numerous pieces of irony throughout their respective stories; this use of irony creates a better reading experience for the reader.
For example, when Melvin and Priscilla were being treated poorly by Monk, “...Priscilla had Monk in a hammerlock” (peck 345). The author uses unusual situations to create humor. This hilarious situation creates humor because Priscilla, a female, takes on the bully of the school, Monk. This creates an ironic, comic situations because you would never expect a girl to beat up a boy. This produces chuckles and grins from the readers since Priscilla play the role of a bigger person. Another example of a comic situation is when Priscilla had stuffed “..Monk into her own locker” (Peck 345). This laughable situation creates humor because Priscilla again plays the role of a bigger person by standing up for herself and the other students who had been bullied by Monk and his Kobras. The way the author described how Priscilla stood up to the bully resulted in the audience smiling and snickering. In summary, the comic situations in this short story display humor in forms of chuckles and snickers from the
Irony is a very big part of a story, because it can create new elements in a story. Some of these elements may include humor and theme. "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a great example for this.
Many authors use irony to make their writings more diverse, as well as to intensify the literary elements in the story. Shirley Jackson, writer of “The Lottery”, does this in her stories in order to leave the reader in suspense and confusion with her use of situational irony. She also uses dramatic irony to give the story a grotesque twist and to cause the reader more confusion about the characters’ morals. Verbal irony is used to intensify characterization as well as give the reader an insight into the true beliefs of those in the village. The use of irony in all three forms throughout the story adds an intensity to the development of many literary elements throughout the story.
Throughout the novel, Alexie uses irony in a very cynical way. This is a reaction to the many hardships that Junior has gone through within his life, and so it seems that he uses dark humor as a defense, or a way to cope. Out of the many deaths that have been presented to the reader in the timespan of this novel, it is especially prominent after Eugene’s death.
Sherman Alexie says that being funny breaks down the barriers between people. In his short stories, “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” and “The Lone Ranger and Tonto and Fistfight in Heaven”, Alexie has different characters who tells jokes. Many of the jokes are funny but can lead to many problems is said at an inappropriate time and place. The two characters are already an outsider as Indians, so they would have to watch what they say and do to not offend anyone near.
Post-Colonialism has been somewhat beneficial to the Native Americans in recent years. Post-Colonialism is the political or cultural condition of a former colony. Obviously, when discussing Post-Colonialism in North America it’s mostly going to be about the founding of the continent and its original thirteen colonies. Throughout the years after the colonization of North America, the Native Americans haven’t really had the best outcome, especially when it comes to the way that they are treated. They haven’t been treated with respect when it comes to being in the film industry, politics, or even just living life day to day as an average person. Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” and “Postcards to Columbus” have
Dragons, witches, princesses and knights. These are the imaginary friends in so many children's lives. For young adults, those fairy tale characters give way to darker characters and more realistic situations. However, what do they all have in common? They live in short stories. Two short stories that are interesting are ""Thank You M'am"" by Langston Hughes and " The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight Heaven" by Sherman Alexie. In both stories the main characters are mistreated and grow up in difficult situations. In "Thank You M'am" Roger tries to steal a woman's purse and she takes him in and helps him. In The Lone Ranger he gets bullied and no one cares about him, he did have a girlfriend but there
Many believe his play to humor and writing betrays Indian “people by presenting them as clichés to be laughed" person’s name says hey "while other persona says he Avoiding to educate white readers and re instill cultural pride in Indian readers he actively works against such goals with his humor" . However I believe Sherman Alexie humor is central to
What makes stories special is the ability to portray meaning between the lines. Every author has their own characteristics and spin that they incorporate into each of their pieces. These can include character genre, symbolism, plot structure, and irony. Shirley Jackson writes an ironic story about a small village who partakes in an annual lottery. The village looks forward to this day and moods are always high. However when the reader gets to the end of the short story they are shocked to find the lottery is a drawing for who in the village gets stoned to death. In The Lottery, Jackson surprises her readers by putting an ironic twist at the end of her tale, by filling the story with warming articulation, light hearted characters, but
In the short stories “A Drug Called Tradition,” “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor,” and “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore” collected in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, author Sherman Alexie uses humor to reflect the life on the Spokane Reservation. In “A Drug Called Tradition,” the story starts with a joke by having Thomas sit down inside a refrigerator in response to Junior’s comment as to why the refrigerator is empty. The Indians are having a party hosted by Thomas, who gets a lot of money from a corporation for leasing some of his land. Alexie’s three second selves, Victor, Junior, and Thomas, later go to the Benjamin Lake and use the drug that Victor brings with him. In “The