Humor of Misfortune
Wednesday’s discussion about humor within As I Lay Dying was something that had been brushing the back of my mind the past couple of nights. I would find myself torn between being horrified and appalled by the story and finding hilarity in the ridiculousness of the whole situation. I had brushed it aside, assuming that the reason I was able to find amusement in the story was because of some generational morbid sense of humor. However, I think that the horrible hilarity in this story is in and of itself, after all, the book was written almost 100 years ago. To me, the humor comes not from the characters and the way they interact with one another (although I do admit to finding those humorous), but rather within the utter ridiculousness of the predicament this family has managed to find themselves in. This family seems to embody Murphy’s Law, as they come across obstacle after obstacle. As I read the river crossing scene, my mom’s voice was