Although comedy and satire are similar literary styles, they sharply contrast in a few fundamental areas. These fundamental differences are clear in a comparison of the comedic short story "The Night the Bed Fell," by James Thurber, and the satiric "Marrying Absurd," by Joan Didion. Broadly defined, a comedy can be is a work depicting the uphill struggle and eventual success of a sympathetic hero; usually about ordinary people in difficult but non-life-threatening predicaments. Satire, on the other hand, is a genre that exposes and ridicules human vice and folly. Its characters are usually unsympathetic, often detestable and seldom commendable. "Marrying Absurd" and "The Night the Bed Fell" can be contrasted as representatives of their genre's in three areas: their tone, their purpose and their method.

The tone of a comedy is generally light-hearted and entertaining, whereas the tone of a satire is critical and ridiculing. In fact, what most sharply separates comedy from satire is their entertainment quality. In this tradition, through his descriptions' of various characters, Thurber clearly sets a lighthearted tone for his comedic short story, "The N

ight the Bed Fell." Thurber makes straightforward characterizations, rather than criticizing his characters for their eccentricity. For example, he describes his Aunt Gracie Shoaf as, "having a burglar phobia, but she met it with great fortitude...she scared them off before they could take anything by throwing shoes down the hallway." If the author was attempting to satirize his Aunt, he would criticize her for this strange behavior, but rather, he finds amusement in it. "Marrying Absurd" on the other hand, has a clearly satiric tone. Through her use mellow drama, and exaggeration, Didion clearly communicates her satiric intention. For example, Didion accounts the boastful assertions of a Las Vegas justice of the piece (Mr. Brennan) who prides himself on the fact that he got the marriage ceremony time "down from five minutes to three minutes." Surely Didion does not detail Mr. Brennan's self-proclaimed accomplishment because a fast, impersonal ceremony is a desirable thing. Clearly, she is criticizing this debasement of the "sacred" institution of marriage.

Both "Marrying Absurd" and "The Night the Bed Fell" intend to evoke an emotional response. However, the desired emotional responses for each piece are different. The author's distinct writing methods or techniques are responsible for readers' different emotional responses to each story. "The Night the Bed Fell" has a distinctly lighthearted feeling partly as a result of Thurber's de

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Approximate Word count = 975
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)