Humor and Comedy in the Works of Poe’s “The Purloined Letter,” Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” (Essay Sample)

Humor and Comedy in 3 Stories Student Name College Course Instructor Name Date Humor and Comedy in 3 Stories Humor and Comedy in the Works of Poe’s “The Purloined Letter,” Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” According to Warren and McGraw (2015), something is considered humorous if people perceive it as funny. Most importantly, it generates the positive emotion of delight or produces a laughter reflex. Humor and comedy are dominant in the works of Poe's "The Purloined Letter," Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," and Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener." The authors comically tell their stories in the three stories, be it tragedy or subjectivity, using their characters. In this essay, we will explore the use of humor in all three works. Poe's "The Purloined Letter" The story is about a stolen letter being used as a tool for political intimidation and, therefore, a serious matter. The author creates humor in the conversation between Dupin and Prefect G. Through the dialogue, the author shows playfulness between the participants and can show delight despite the tragic story. Dupin and the Prefect G tease each other in their conversations and appear to make fun of each other in multiple instances. For example, "We gave him a hearty welcome; for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man, and we had not seen him for several years" (Poe & Hodges, 1958). Their conversations give the impression that Dupin and Prefect G like to have funny mockeries with each other, which are humorous to the reader. "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hawthorne regularly uses humor to address human ridiculousness. The ironic attack on the religious practices by the author is in itself humorous, as well as the careful selection of words to create humor and similarly evoke a sense in the evils in the society. The author uses humor to attack the vice of excusing an evil for the mere reason of it being for the last time. A good example is when Goodman is on the journey into the woods and states, "and after this one night I will cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven." The author's intention in the humorous comment is to show the hypocrisy of the religious community. In another instance, the author humorously uses irony and sarcasm during the encounter between Goodman and the devil, "Still they might have been taken for father and son" (Hawthorne, 2022). In this encounter, the author intends to show the similarity between the devil and the religious. Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" Although the story's central theme is a tragedy, Melville explains the encounters in a humorous, subjective way. In most instances, Bartleby replies, "I prefer not to," whenever the boss asks him to help with the office duties. His reactions defy logic to the reader as this would be unexpected in the reader's experiences in their day-to-day experiences. While commenting on Bartleby's actions, the author is comical and states, "To befriend Bar...