Slavin: An Anatomy of Humor

"I was certain he would kill us... But it was not in a jungle. It was right here in Ruth Bay" (37). The novel, Carnivore Diet, is set in a suburban area of Washington, D.C. known as Ruth Bay. The story is told through the eyes of Wendy, a tranquilizer-addicted mother, and her son, Dylan. Conflict arises in the story when a mythical monster known as the chagwa appears in Washington one day. From this point on, Julia Slavin unfurls an absurdist tale about drugs, sex, and politics that she uses as commentary on both the political and domestic. The reader must learn to expect the unexpected in order to keep up with Slavin throughout this novel. The story ends with more reversals of expectations and surprises while exhibiting a sense of humor. This humor results primarily from Slavin’s use of categories and stereotypes. One will see that these uses of humor can be explained through the theories of Henri Bergson and Nancy Walker.

Stereotypes:

Julia Slavin uses stereotypes to poke fun at two major American institutions as seen through Wendy’s eyes: suburbia and politics. Book II opens with a Memorial Day barbeque in the white picket fence world of Ruth Bay, and all of the classic suburban stereotypes seem to be present. The narrator, Wendy, spends nearly six pages (43 – 48) enumerating all of the ways that the neighbors fit into the stereotypes. There are “grad students with expansive ideas” (43), “The Greeter” (44), “the only woman in the first world with six kids” (44), the overly-stylistic fashionista (44), a recently returned to work school psychologist (46), and a ponytailed lawyer (48). Slavin uses these characters as allusions to a world that anyone who has spent time in suburbia before can immediately relate to. However, as a reader, one can see just how ridiculous suburbia actually is when viewed through the lens of this book. Slavin also uses stereotypes to take a poke at American politics. Wendy and the injured gas company worker, Nuke, whom she picks up at the home of a drug dealer, find their way to a party where most of the guests are politicians, or rather, former politicians. Wendy recognizes at least a dozen people who used to have important jobs in government (170 – 171), but now have nothing better to do than stand around and bicker about politics. Slavin goes one step further with the ridiculousness as Nuke, despite being both high and by far the most blue-collar person at the party, is able to sound both refined and well-informed on current issues when he simply over-annunciates his consonants while speaking (173 – 174).


Are politics in America really this ridiculous?


Reversals of Expectation:

Surprising reversals of expectation are used throughout the story to provide humor and keep the reader on his or her toes. The first major surprise arises at the beginning of Book II. During the first book, which is narrated by Dylan, Wendy appears to completely fit the norm of the suburban wife. However we soon find that she is addicted to tranquilizers and tries several times to acquire more after her supply runs out. At the end of the section, she ends up being institutionalized after arriving at Our Lady of Incumbency (another political jab) hospital in a drug-induced fog (181). Another way that Slavin reverses the expectations of readers is by finely splitting the line between reality and illusion. The reader should beware because what the characters perceive is not always real. Throughout the story, Nuke pops up unexpectedly in almost every strange place that Wendy goes. It appears that he may be little more than a figment of her tranquilized imagination until, after cleaning herself up, she runs into him at the Wall (287).

Lastly, the chagwa itself constantly changes from what the reader is expecting. It first appears as an incredibly masculine figure, tearing apart the neighborhood and urinating all over the Dunleavy’s house (51). However, as the story continues, the chagwa is able to change not only his/her nature, but even his/her sex. At the close of the novel, he becomes a she in the circumstance that he begins to feel less than dominant and needs to be nurturing to save a nearly dead Dylan (294). The most powerful character in the story then wanders off to die alone and completely powerless (296).

Theorist Explanations:

Out of the theorists/philosophers that we have talked about so far two of them stand out when talking about Julia Slavin. The two theorists that come to mind when relating to Slavin are Henri Bergson and Nancy Walker. Each one of these theorists talk about the same subjects that Slavin brings up in her writings, specifically Carnivore Diet. Slavin looked at different stereotypical "categories" throughout her book. Bergson spent a lot of his time looking at laughter and the categories that people are organized into. Slavin also focuses on women in her writings and Walker has spent her time talking about the typical female role in society and of what is expected of women. Therefore, the topics that both Bergson and Walker focus on are displayed throughout Slavin's work.

Henri Bergson:

Bergson had many theories and focused on many topics throughout his lifetime. One topic that he looked at was the topic of laughter and it's influences on society. Bergson thought that laughter was used in society because it had a specific purpose. He thought that laughter is a "social gesture" (Bergson) in society and Bergson says, "It's function is to intimidate by humiliating" (Bergson). His theory about laughter itself doesn't necessarily apply to Slavin. However, when looking at laughter Bergson also looks at society and this applies to Slavin and her writings.

Slavin displays many types of categories, or stereotypes throughout her book. Bergson thinks that people are organized into certain categories (Bergson). That society is a machine that organizes people into these categories depending upon different factors (Bergson). There are certain characteristics that place people into these different categories. They fall within an expected category depending on things such as sex, race, religion, class, etc. People who are in the same category have similar things in common and have acquired similar characteristics (Bergson). These characteristics that are required for a person to fall within a certain category are called "MECHANISMS" (Bergson). MECHANISMS organize people into these categories based on not only people's similarities but also on what society expects of these people who appear similar.

Mechanisms of the Body
(example of what a mechanism is)

Humor tends to work by looking at these MECHANISMS and the categories they apply to and therefore, by using them. Humor looks at things that we are familiar with and my find within ourselves. It is this very reason that Bergson says, "that laughter utilizes the GENERAL" (Bergson). We laugh at humor because we are recognizing the MECHANISMS used within the humor itself. We tend to see ourselves in the humor and therefore, we laugh because we recognize what the humor is focusing on. We see our own MECHANISMS within the humor and thus laugh at them.

Nancy Walker:

While Bergson talked about categories in general, Nancy Walker focused on the category of the woman's role in society and how society views women. As Walker points out about the overall tone towards women's humor, "...that a sense of humor was the rarest of qualities in women" (Walker 73). Throughout history women have not been viewed as having humor. It has always been viewed, through societies eyes, that women didn't have a humorous side to them and that as Walker points out, "So pervasive was the idea that women were incapable of humor that works written by women were sometimes assumed to have instead been written by men" (Walker 74). This quote along with the quote "What! from a woman's pen? It takes a man to write a comedy - no woman can" (Walker 74), describes the overall feelings towards women and their ability to write about humorous subjects.

View of Women's Role in Society

Society was very male dominated throughout much of our history and humor is just another men exercised a considerable amount of control over women. In the eyes of society, women were supposed to take care of the house. This would include taking care of the children, cleaning the house, and making dinner just to name a few tasks. They were expected to be "man's supporter" (Walker 77). As stated in Walker's writings, "...it has been conductive to matrimonial harmony that she [the wife] should echo her husband's ideas - so why not his jokes as well?" (Walker 77). Women were expected to support their husband no matter what, and if women were to tell jokes it might be viewed that they were trying to "show up" their husbands. A good wife was supposed to support her husband. Making jokes and telling humor was viewed as not fulfilling your role as wife.

The idea that women can have humor does not fall within the view that society has of women. As Walker states, "...denial of female humor: the fact that it is at odds with common cultural definitions of 'femininity'" (Walker 83). How society views the way women should behave does not include the thought that they can write about, talk about, or display anything remotely humorous. Walker tries to show what women are up against: the predetermined category that women are placed into by society. However, the more women have transitioned out of the home, the more society has begun to realize that women can write about humor. Walker points out, "As women have assumed an increasingly larger role in the world outside the home, women's humor has reflected this transition, and consequently it deals with a wide variety of cultural issues" (Walker 172-173). Women finally have started to be recognized for their humor. The times have changed and the view that society once had of women is not the same today. It took awhile, as Walker has pointed out, but women have been recognized for their humor and aren't placed within the same category as they once were.

Different Categories in Society

Conclusion:

Julia Slavin doesn't come right out and talk about categories within her book. Instead she allows the reader to determine the different categories from their own views of how someone should behave. Throughout her book the category that one person, like Wendy, belonged to changes as the story moves along. This is because of different determining factors that the characters may not be able to control. They are forced to change from their typical category depending on the situation at hand. Slavin allows the reader to determine which categories the characters fall into and when they may not be within their perceived category anymore. Slavin allows this to be up for interpretation. She does not say that one person should act a certain way based upon their category. Slavin only puts forth the situtaions in the book, which enables the reader to determine everything else for him or herself.

The focuses of both Bergson and Walker are displayed throughout Carnivore Diet. Bergson's view on categories and the MECHANISMS that place people into these categories are apparant in Slavin's book. However, Slavin does not place her characters into specific categories. She leaves that up to the reader to determine. Walker's focus on the role of women and how they are viewed by society, expecially their humor, is also apparent throughout Carnivore Diet. The continuum from how women actually behave to how society believes women should behave is shown. This was Walker's main emphasis: the fact that women have humor and it is the category that society puts women into, not women themselves, that predetermines how a woman should behave and what their duties and skills are to society. Walker points out the flaws of society and it's view of women. Walker focuses on one category, women's humor, while Bergson looked at categories in general. Bergson pointed out that people are placed into categories and that society has a big role in determining these categories while Walker points out the category of women and how society unfairly treats them. Slavin uses these two focuses to write her book and leaves the rest up to the reader to determine the different categories and whether or not they are fairly or unfairly justified.

Works Cited:

Bergson, Henri. "Laughter": An Essay on the Meaning of Comic.

Slavin, Julia. Carnivore Diet. New York: W.W. Noron & Company, 2005.

Walker, Nancy. Chapter 3: Humor, Intellect, and Femininity.

Walker, Nancy. Chapter 6: The Tradition and Beyond: Contemporary Women's Humor and the Canon of American Literature.

Different Categories in Society Picture:
http://blogstats.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/freebase-domain-society.png

Flag Pin Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5LZI50dMbM

Mechanisms of the Body Picture:
http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Teams/Team35/gfx/mechanisms.gif

View of Women's Role in Society Picture:
http://static.flickr.com/79/275067752_7cbceb8f57_o.jpg

Vietnam Memorial Picture:
http://www.b-29s-over-korea.com/God_Bless_America/images/Vietnam-Memorial-Wall-Wikipedia.jpg

White Picket Fence Picture:
http://www.justintimeauction.com/images/pitman2/house.jpg


Posted by: Chris Mechlem and Jeremy Hilligoss