Alain de Botton once said, “The chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain, but to convey the impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” This quote shows that there is more to writing than just to entertain. Through writing, writers often convey messages that are not easily spoken about, such as criticizing a global trend or idea, by lightening up the topic and underlying messages through the usage of satire and humor. Joshua Ferris uses humor and satire to indirectly share his criticism on social conformity of people in an office and the American Dream.
In Joshua Ferris’s novel, Then We Came to The End, Ferris appeals to the reader's pathos, through humor to implicitly criticize social conformity, as something that causes people to lose sight of who they are. Tom Mota, a character in the novel, who gets fired from the advertising agency is seen as a crazy person, as he does all these crazy things to not conform. However in the end, he realizes he is conforming to society in his own way. Tom Mota says, “I refused to conform...Everyone listened to the same goddamn radio station. Fuck that. I stayed late and went to everybody’s desk and spun the dial. I wore three polos on top of each other for a month. Joe, because I wasn’t being fooled..I sharpied FAG on your wall. And I thought, it’s because I refused to conform..I thought I was up there, …show more content…
Joshua Ferris, in his novel, Then We Came to The End, uses humor, satire and irony to convey messages about the social conformity and American Dream. Both these are issues that are globally known, but through his usage of humor, satire and irony, Ferris develops and conveys a different message, challenging the social norms and showing the consequences of social conformity and the American Dream that are not usually
In Joshua Ferris’s novel, Then We Came to The End, Ferris appeals to the reader's pathos, through humor to implicitly criticize social conformity, as something that causes people to lose sight of who they are. Tom Mota, a character in the novel, who gets fired from the advertising agency is seen as a crazy person, as he does all these crazy things to not conform. However in the end, he realizes he is conforming to society in his own way. Tom Mota says, “I refused to conform...Everyone listened to the same goddamn radio station. Fuck that. I stayed late and went to everybody’s desk and spun the dial. I wore three polos on top of each other for a month. Joe, because I wasn’t being fooled..I sharpied FAG on your wall. And I thought, it’s because I refused to conform..I thought I was up there, …show more content…
Joshua Ferris, in his novel, Then We Came to The End, uses humor, satire and irony to convey messages about the social conformity and American Dream. Both these are issues that are globally known, but through his usage of humor, satire and irony, Ferris develops and conveys a different message, challenging the social norms and showing the consequences of social conformity and the American Dream that are not usually