Sarcasm and the Muting Effect

One of the many components of David Sedaris’ personality and writing style that make him so entertaining is his intense sarcasm.  Those who have a specially tuned ear to sarcasm find Sedaris’ use of it particularly witty and sometimes shocking.  This unique form of humor is pleasing to each and every reader and unfailingly draws a chuckle or two out of me in each essay.  However, the most recent anecdotes I have read in Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim have brought a slight literary inconvenience to my attention. 

                I've noticed that when in the midst of an incredibly uncomfortable and out-of-the-ordinary situation, Sedaris tends to use his sarcasm to treat a situation as if such an insane occasion were a typical part of his mercilessly strange life.  At some points, this technique comes in handy in his attempt make the reader laugh, while in many other parts this has a muting effect.  The essay titled “Blood Work” describes a time when Sedaris was hired as an apartment cleaner by a man who mistook him as an employee for an erotic home-cleaning service.  The events that occurred because of this mistake are so humiliating to read that I almost sprained a muscle in my face due to cringing so fiercely.  However, the embarrassment is not clearly expressed by the author and is instead glazed over by an off-putting attitude that treats the situation as only moderately embarrassing, at most.  Some might argue that this technique is genius, and that Sedaris is leaving it up to the reader to carry the entire weight of the embarrassment as they feel necessary.  This is a perfectly valid argument, and I will not attempt to push it aside completely.  I, on the other hand, would highly appreciate more of an insight on how Sedaris himself felt in such a strange and uncomfortable situation.  In other essays, Sedaris pushes the described emotions and reactions in the direction of his family rather than himself.  Since he doesn't have the skill to see directly into the minds of his family and friends and copy his findings down in his book, the reader is left assuming that Sedaris’ portrayal of their reactions and emotions are relatively accurate.  I find myself simply wishing that Sedaris would talk about his own inner feelings and responses to events more often; it is a memoir, after all. 

                Despite the continuous laughter that Sedaris’ stories evoke from me, his use of sarcasm to tame his emotions in their raw, original state leave a few of the author's own first-hand reactions to be desired.

(Question answered: What parts distract from the work's overall effectiveness? Why?)

Belonging vs. Individuality

After reading three more essays from David Sedaris’ book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, I have managed to kindle more thoughts and ponder the common themes that I have noticed pooling in the divots of each story.

                The dominant theme in the last few essays has been the idea of belonging.  This is not any kind of new or revolutionary idea; it has been the center piece of many books already written.  However, Sedaris’ personal experiences with wanting to belong while still clinging to individuality are shockingly relatable and witty to the point of cringe-worthiness.  If someone were to ask me: “What is it like trying to be cool as a teenager?” my initial reaction would be to hand them a copy of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and tell them to turn to the essay “The Change in Me.”  In this essay, Sedaris recalls a personal story that shows how difficult it is for a teen to be wedged between the two cliff faces known as “individuality” and “fitting in” while not being able to get a stable footing in either place.  His story illustrates this social paradox with his plan to become a shining, admirable individual by imitating the hippies that he sees asking strangers for change on the streets.  Eventually, the young Sedaris learns his lesson when the hippies mock him for attempting to become a hippy himself, helping him realize that individuality is not something that you can force upon yourself or anyone else; uniqueness is acquired through the natural development of your own character.  

                 The same theme carries into the essay “Hejira,” in which a slightly older Sedaris struggles with his own lifestyles in a more serious way.  After turning over some rocks in his life, Sedaris discovers some of his own vital features.  He comes to terms with his sexuality, he seems to embrace his lack of motivation to keep himself in any college, and he finds himself using drugs to escape the embarrassment of the previously listed characteristics that he may suffer in society’s eyes.  This idea of individuality takes Sedaris from a state of unbearable and inescapable awkwardness to one of ironic comfort, even though the lifestyle that he takes on as a young adult causes his father to turn his own son away from his home.  Though, like every teenager, he may have struggled with finding their place in the world, Sedaris has conquered the position of raw individuality in the form of self-acceptance despite the disapproval of close friends and family; a harsh yet beautiful reality.

(Question answered: What dominant themes permeate the text? How are they developed?)

And I am Already Confused

After hours of in-depth research and careful consideration, I settled on the book that I would be reading for this summer’s AP Language homework.  The previous sentence is a lie.  The truth is, as soon as I saw that one of the optional books on the nonfiction reading list was written by David Sedaris, I immediately lowered the status of all other options on my mental scale of importance and settled comfortably on Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. 

                Like all of Sedaris’ memoirs, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is in the format of multiple witty essays and anecdotes from his life as a son in a typical yet colorful middle-class family.  Despite the fact that I have only read five of the essays in this memoir so far, I have already found myself lost in trying to decipher Sedaris’ complicated family life.  The structure of the family itself is not the confusing part (even though his many siblings may be hard to keep track of at times), but rather the emotional connections between the family members.  The relationship between the children and their parents I find to be especially curious, as their attitude towards each other tends to change from one story to the next.  In the essay “Let It Snow,” Sedaris tells the story of an uncommon North Carolinian snow day, on which his mother locks him and his four young sisters out of the house until a neighbor finds one of them lying on the road in the dark.  On the other hand, “The Ship Shape” depicts a much more positive image of Sedaris’ mother and father as they enjoy their summers vacationing with the kids and encountering the ups and downs of real estate.  This almost careless transition between cruel and pleasant parenting can be quite off-putting and rather displeasing at times. 

The irritating component of these frequent mood changes is that Sedaris never really takes a clear stance on his attitude towards his parents.  Of course, I understand that a child’s love for their mother and father can withstand a hurricane of hardships and cruelty, but the author never steps in to help the reader form an opinion of his parents.  If I can make a guess, I think Sedaris is closer to his mother for natural human nurturing reasons and because he most likely appreciates the almost tactical roughness that she put him and his sisters through.  Sedaris is probably not quite as close with his father because he tends to be a source of humiliation for his son, like the way he rudely and persistently confronts the parents of a school bully and asks them for money in the essay “Consider the Stars.” Sedaris’ father also seems to have wanted to suppress his son’s homosexuality from a young age, which is becoming more evident as the author ages throughout the essays.  I’m not willing to make too many assumptions yet; I have much more to read before I can even come close to drawing conclusions on my current theories.

(Question answered: What confuses or makes you wonder about the text?)