An interpretation of Humorous Irony In Mark Twain’s Is He Living or Is He Dead？

胡波

【Abstract】Mark Twain is both a humorist and an ironic writer. Taking his short novel Is He Living or Is He Dead？ as an example， the essay tries to explore into his humorous irony in this novel， that is hyperbole， irony， and tragicomic ending， which will definitely help us to better understand and appreciate his works.

【Key words】Mark Twain； humor； irony

1. Introduction

Mark Twain （1835-1910） is generally acknowledged as one of the most prominent and popular American writers. He enjoys a high reputation and appreciation from people of different social status. Is He Living or Is He Dead？ （1893） is one of Mark Twains important short novels， it best exemplifies Twains writing skills of humorous irony. So the essay tries to explore into the humorous irony in this novel in order to appreciate the wisdom and profound meanings in this novel.

2. Discussion and Analysis

2.1 Hyperbole

Hyperbole is defined in rhetoric as a kind of figure of speech in which exaggeration or overstatement is used to emphasize the effects and expose the essence. It is usually employed by maximizing the meaning of words， by converting negative words into positive ones， or by being used together with other figures.

Mark Twain is good at making use of hyperbole to indirectly reflect the essence and features of discussed object. Sometimes it may seem fantastic and ridiculous， but it is always reasonable as his use of hyperbole is based on the social reality. It helps to penetrate through the superficially ridiculous phenomena to explore into the nature of them.

In Is He Living or Is He Dead？ the four young men， Smith， Claude， Carl and Millet， they are all talented. However， they were unknown to the public and their pictures were scarcely sold out， so they live a very poor life. They have nothing to feed on but turnips， and even the turnips failed them sometimes. Under such desperate conditions， a brilliant plan was conceived by Carl. He suggested that one of them must “die”， to save themselves， then Millet was elected to “die”. During the next three month， Millet was painted with all his might， while the rest three of them began boasting about and selling Millets pictures and studies here and there， and making such the rumor that such a talented man is not going to live three month， which really made Millet famous. Then， the picture that Millet would have sold it for a pork chop has made eight hundred francs. Within the following six weeks， the boom was so high， his painting “Angelus” was even sold for twenty-two hundred francs. Unexpectedly， everyone would struggle to own it and it would capture for five hundred and fifty thousand， and they became extremely rich. Such strong contrast seems ridiculous and extremely exaggerated. However， it is also reasonable. By exaggerating and highlighting such contrast， the cruel reality that the talented people are ignored by the society are reflected， only after they dead can people recognize their great value and give the lately-coming recognition to them. However， it was futile.endprint

2.2 Irony

Irony may be traditionally defined as a double significance that arises from the contrast in values associated with two different points of view. Irony means to say the opposite of what one means， or to say something different from what one means. A single sentence can be ironic， as well as a whole passage. In the case of irony， the speaker is not presenting his own views， but echoing and dissociating himself from views he attributes to someone else.

In Is He Living or Is He Dead？ the speaker was just a medium and seldom spoke. Through talking with so-called “Smith”， the story are told by him vividly. In their conversation， the speaker indirectly exposed a fact and law in human history as what Carl said that “the merit of many a great artist has never been acknowledged until after he was starved and dead. This has happened so often that I make bold to found a law upon it.” So， Carl conceived a brilliant plan “one of us must die.” They all considered him ill or crazy. However， after he explained his plan to them， “Everybody broke out into a rousing hurrah of applause； and all jumped up…in transports of gratitude and joy.”Then， they began doing what they have previously arranged. By boasting exaggeratedly， Millet became famous and all his pictures received high popularity and sold for a very high price. When the boom was at the summit， they arranged Millet to “die” and held the final mournful rites. They four carried the coffin， and allowed no one to help. Ironically， Millet also helped to carry his own coffin. It fiercely satirizes the hypocrisy of people and reflects the distorted phenomenon that artistic works was taken as merchandise in American Capitalism. So， Francois Millet is still alive but he is considered to be dead.

2.3 Tragicomic ending

Tragicomedy is a form of drama that combines tragic and comic elements. The term has nothing to do with humor， instead， sudden reversals， averted catastrophes， and happy endings were the standard ingredients of the form. Gotthold Lessing defined it as a mixture of emotions in which seriousness stimulates laughter， and pain pleasure.

The tragicomic element is also shown in the novel； it not only helps to strengthen the comic effect， but also arouses readers reflection behind the joy and laughter. “From the aesthetic perspective， humor should belong to comedy. However， in Mark Twains works， the humor that you felt was not just joy or sorrow， but a kind of mixed feelings， that is joy with sorrow， happy with tears.”In Is He Living or Is He Dead？ Readers may feel pitiful for their impoverishment. However， after Carl conceived a plan to solve the problem and improve their conditions， it was changed completely. The novel was ended in happy， but we still cannot forget the law that Carl concluded “that the merit of every great unknown and neglected artist must and will be recognised and his pictures climb to high prices after his death.”It is a paradox and also a satire to expose the hypocrisy and ignorance in American Capitalism society.endprint

3. Conclusion

To sum up， fundamentally， Mark Twain is both a humorist and an ironic writer， and most of Twains works are the combination of both humor and satire. In Is He Living or Is He Dead？ Mark Twain makes use of hyperbole， irony， and tragicomic ending to reveal the essential nature of these ridiculous phenomena， so as to criticize the cruel social reality. Taking these elements into consideration， we can have a better understanding of his works and his style.

References：

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[3]Bits-n-Pieces.What is Tragicomedy？[OL].Retrieved from http：//hubpages.com/ hub/ tragic omedy on Jan.10th 2011.

[4]Chu Jun.A Study of the Comprehension Procedure of Humor in Mark Twains Works from the Perspective of the Relevance Theory[MA].University of Electronic Science and Technology in China.

[5]Twain Mark.Is He Living or Is He Dead？[OL].Retrieved from http：//classiclit.about.com/ library/ bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-isheliv.htm on Jan.10th 2011.endprint