Jesus Shaves By David Sedaris

In David Sedaris’s short story, “Jesus Shaves”, he uses humor to help the reader see the obvious contradictions and absurdities in some of the long held traditions kept by their religion or faith. Holiday traditions was a topic in the French class, the traditions of different cultures were misunderstood or could not be explained by their basic language. The explanations of the “Easter bunny” or the “Easter bell” were dismissed by some of the students as tall tales since they could not adequately describe the true meaning with their limited vocabulary or understanding of the history. All of the stories were just funny when explained so simply. It brings the reader to question those traditions themselves without judging the religion but laughing about the “why” we do these things in the name of faith. The story helps the reader look for the contradictions in their traditions they participate in, during the …show more content…
In the web article by David and Sharon Stratford, they talk about the history of the flying bell tradition. “Cloche volant or flying bells are another important part of the Easter traditions of France. French Catholics believe that on Good Friday, all the church bells in France fly to the Vatican in Rome, carrying with them the grief of those who mourn Jesus' crucifixion on that day. These flying bells return on Easter Sunday morning and bring with them lots of chocolate and eggs. In keeping with the tradition, French church bells do not ring from Good Friday to Easter Sunday morning. Often there are processions on Good Friday recognizing the path Jesus took.” (Stratford) Today the tradition continues that the bells do not ring through the Easter weekend in France. I find it humorous that up until reading Sedaris’ story I had never heard of the flying bell traditions, even though it plays such a huge part in French