Tuesday, March 3, 2009
"Dead Man Laughing"
"Dead Man Laughing" is a story that is mainly centered on the notion of humor, especially at the things in life that many people wouldn’t consider humorous. I read up on this on google and it seems that it is really an insight on Smith’s life with her family and the affects that humor had on it. I think it’s great that they use humor as a way to deal with the problems and feelings that the characters had in this story because I really think humor is one of the best medicines. If you can laugh at yourself, you can be content with yourself. Humor is used in this essay as a way to sidetrack people from difficult issues in life, such as financial status and death. Smith’s family finds a lot of humor in things that many people would not be able to look and laugh at, which makes this story a very interesting read. As they watch comedic television that pokes fun at the lower financial class, they are able to laugh and become satisfied with their own lives.
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I felt the same way reading the story. My family is all about the drama, especially when my friends are over or their friends are over. The weird part of the story was when she tasted her fathers' ashes. I think it was possibly just like seeing the dead body, putting a concrete end to it.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think about her trying to share her humor with her friends, and them not understanding? That part almost made me sad because she was brought up with humor in a way that made it hard to share it with others who didn't share her views.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that humor is important part of life. You put it well by saying that someone can be content if he can laugh at himself. A lot of people have issues with taking themselves too seriously, and that probably lead to unhappiness.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything. Great blog post.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't laugh at yourself then you are doing something wrong. Life is full of funny moments whether or not they seem funny at the time
ReplyDeleteShe definitely uses humor to deal with the tough situations in life. With her father's death, I think she uses it to still feel connected with him. When she puts his ashes in the tupperware container, I think she does that because her father would've thought it was funny...so they still share a laugh in a way.
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