Irony, Playfulness, and Black Humor
Postmodern literature refers to the writing styles which emerged after World War II. There are several characteristics of postmodern literature, such as irony, playfulness, black humor, among others. And of Clay Are We Created by Isabelle Allende, Everyday Use by Alice Walker and the Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich are examples of books which implement these characteristics. And of Clay Are We Created is a short story with a journalist, Rolf Carle, as the protagonist. He experiences the death of a young girl, Azucena, who is stuck at a mudslide after the volcanic eruption in Colombia. This encounter reminds him of his traumatizing past and it leads to his resignation and threatens his relationship with his girlfriend, Eva Luna. Everyday use is a story of a black woman Mrs. Johnsons (Mama) who lives in America with her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. The family has a duty to maintain their heritage but this is threatened when Dee goes to school and comes home a different person. The Red Convertible involves two Native American brothers, Henry and Lyman, whose lives are completely different, though they live together and even have a mutual red convertible. Lyman’s life is smooth while Henry encounters hardship and suffering. He is drafted into the Vietnam War which makes him to commit suicide later on. Irony refers to the act of expressing oneself using a language that signifies the opposite of what one means. It can be humorous or used to emphasis on something. Playfulness entails being fun and light hearted. Black humor on the hand is a characteristic that entails making jokes out of sad or painful situations in order to lighten the moment. Postmodern characteristics help to show the intended lessons, the author’s perspectives and the message brought out in a book. This paper will analyze the different scenarios in which the authors of the books; And of Cray Are We Created by Isabelle Allende, Everyday Use by Alice Walker, and the Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich use irony, playfulness and black humor and their effects on the people.
There are several instances where irony is used in the book And of Clay are we created. First, bitter irony to show how technology focuses more on irrelevant things than human life. Azucena is trapped in the mudslide after the volcanic eruption. Rolf Carle goes to report on the case, but he ends up joining in the rescuing mission of the young girl. He uses a tire to prevent the girls from sinking because there was no water pump to save. This is ironical considering that the case what being aired on all media houses. The government has invested heavily on communication networks. Secondly, irony is used to show how people value their work more than their loved once, thus killing their relationship slowly. Despite dating Rolf for a long time, Eva Luna does not know her boyfriend well. When he is narrating his story to Azucena, the narrator said that she felt more connected to him on the screen than in real life. Their distance increases even more after Rolf narrates his story about his past, but the narrator stands by him waiting for him to recover. Lastly, it is ironical how people suffer silently until they encounter accidents or life threatening situations forcing them to open up. Rolf Carle tells Azucena about all his youthful sufferings at her verge of death (Allende 3). The encounter with Azucena made him to console himself instead of consoling the victim. This is unexpected because Rulf has his girlfriend Eva whom he is supposed to share his worries with. This show the distance between them in terms of communication.
Irony is also found in the both the Red Convertible and Everyday Use. Erdrich in his book uses irony to show cultural discrimination between the Americans and Native Americans. Lyman represents the Americans wile Henry represents the Native Americans. Lyman and Henry are Native Americans who have to adopt to American culture. Lyman is fully assimilated while Henry holds back to his own culture. Lyman lives a good life without struggles and he even owns a cafe. According to Gay & Beidler (15), Lyman’s desire is to be white. On the other hand, Henry’s life is full of suffering and he has to do unskilled manual jobs to survive. He is forced to join the army in the Vietnam War where he is detained for a long time. He later suffers depression and commits suicide. Also, in Everyday use, education is seen as a destructive force that brings more harm than good. Mama Dee takes Dee to school with the hope that she will be a better person in the future. However, Dee loses her heritage while in school and while trying to recover her ‘ancient’ routes, she rejects her mother and her sister, Maggie, claiming that they have neglected their heritage. She even changes her name to Wangero, an African name. Also, people use Verbal irony to show their disappointment and to justify their actions. When Dee’s mother refuses to give her the blanket that she and Bid Dee made and instead gave it to Maggie, Dee becomes furious and says that Maggie and her mother do not understand their heritage. This is ironical because both Mama and Maggie have never turned away from their heritage
Black humor is used in both Everyday Use and of Clay Are We Created. Walker uses black humor to show that it can be used to prevent tragedies during a conflict. Mama prevents tragedy between her daughters. Mrs. Johnsons is forced to choose who gets the quilts between her two daughters and she chooses Maggie because she believes Maggie has the potential to protect their heritage unlike Dee who only do it for show. Dee becomes furious because she thinks that she is the best person to keep the quilts and this leads to serious quarrelling in the family (Hoel 14). She lightens up the moment by referring to her husband’s curving benches when they could not ‘effort’ a chair. Secondly, black humor is used in Everyday Use to keep the family united. Mrs. Johnson’s use of humor whenever her daughter quarrel releases the tension which could lead to fights between her daughters, thus promoting peace and unity in the family. Similarly, Isabelle uses black humor for comparison. Azecuna’s head is compared to a black squash (Allende 2). This is a black joke considering she is at the verge of death and it could lead to mixed reaction by the people.
The characteristic of playfulness and its effects is evident in the Red Convertible. First, Erdrich uses playfulness to show how it helps to build a good relationship between siblings. Henry shows his playfulness when he encounters Susy on the road, a girl with a long hair when he is on a road trip with his brother Lyman. They asks her when she lives and decides to accompany her there. He jokes while in Alaska and tells Susy to jump on his shoulders. He continues to add he always wondered what it feels like to have long hair (Erdrich 9). The two brothers are always happy together and even uses their savings to buy a red convertible which they use to explore the world. This increases the bond between them. Secondly, Erdrich uses war to show how it negatively affects playfulness. Henry was a jovial person before going to war, but after returning home, he acts secretive and very quiet. Warfare damage people psychologically and the soldiers feel entitled to war. Henry is always cautious and ready to strike. He does not change his army uniform and boots and while watching the TV, he bit his lips till they start bleeding. Thirdly, Erdrich shows that once Playfulness is destroyed, it is hard to recover. When Henry returns home, his brother Lyman is worried about him and he tries all means possible to get henry back. He even goes ahead and destroys their mutual car in the hope that Henry would remember their past moments and change. However, all his efforts are in vain and Henry commits suicide in the process (Gay & Beidler, 15).A picture that was taken by their small sister captures Henry’s sad and dull face which had a shade meaning that Henry was dead from the inside before meeting his actual death.
Black humor is also used in the Red Convertibles. Black humor can help in reconciliation when people disagree. Henry fixes the car after Lyman destroyed it. Lyman is optimistic about this and he think that Henry is making some progress back to normal. He suggests that both of them should take a drive to the river. Henry tells Lyman while at the river that he only fixed the car for him to own it. Lyman disagree and he says that he takes that as Henry’s car. They argue and end up engaging on a bloody fight. Henry starts laughing hysterically and his brother joins him too leading to their reconciliation (Erdrich 12). Secondly, the red car is a symbol of black humor as it not represents happiness experienced by both brothers on their adventures together but also the death of Henry. Lyman throws the car into the water after Henry drowns, because he believes Henry owns it. This shows that tragedy is only a few steps from humor. Thirdly, Erdrich show that black humor is the way Native Americans make their lives enjoyable and worth living. Lyman is saddened by his brother’s death and sees it as a big loss. Later on, he seems to enjoy the fruits of his brother’s death, because the government pays him as a compensation.
Postmodern literature characteristics positively impacts the society. Irony is used to condemn negative acts. Black humor and playfulness plays a big role in promoting peace and harmony as tension is relieved during this moments. Therefore, upcoming Authors should input postmodern literature in their work for the readers to emulate.
Works Cited
Allende, Isabelle. And of Clay Are We Created. United States: 1989. PRINT.
Barton Gay & Beidler Peter. A Readers Guide to the Novels of Louise Erdrich. United States:
University of Missouri Press, 2006. PRINT.
Erdrich Louise. The Red Convertible. United States: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009. PRINT.
Hoel, H. Personal Names and Heritage: Alice Walker’s Everyday Use. Norway: Cathedral
Press, 1999. PRINT.
