"'Maybe I sound whiny to you,' said the girl, 'but I simply want my history major to mean something.'
'Well, there's your problem,' said Zoe, and with a smile, she showed the student to the door. 'I like your bow,' she added." -"You're Ugly, Too"
What amazed me about this story was the endless number of situations, behaviors, and one-liners of irony and sarcasm that spewed from Zoe. That's right, spewed. I could see someone being sort of fed-up with the imperfections in society, but Zoe displays a constant cynicism that really serves to highlight her eccentricities. Let's see, she puts everything in Baggies (apparently thats a brand now-I guess it's reached monopoly status like Kleenex), is afraid her rug says Bruce Springsteen, and curtly asks men she has just met if they are gay. I thought about taking Zoe for what she is worth, giving her credit for her individuality, so on and so forth...but when one of the review questions asked me if I felt sympathetic towards her because of her eccentricities, I realized my sympathy was slim. When Zoe uses sarcasm and comments that are meant to be funny, she is elevating herself above the people who she interacts with on purpose. I have to agree with her that the intentions of man and the happenings of life don't usually turn out positively, but her reaction to this is to simply become aloof. She doesn't try to tolerate or change any negative aspect of society. She mocks it. Many times that's how humor works; it's easier to point out the faults in a funny way than to change the response to them. I appreciate that the story was lighter, but Moore points out a theme that pressure can overtake even those who act above its grasp.
No comments:
Post a Comment