Analyzing humer in middle passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyzing humer in middle passage - Essay Example rd’s statement is a bitter commentary on women, the manner in which he delivers it makes the statement palatable and could move even a female reader to laughter. The impression isn’t that woman as a whole are prone to disaster, but that Rutherford himself is unable to reconcile the responsibilities associated with relationships with his new found freedom. Later on, the reader learns that it is the idea of falling in love and losing his individuality that threatens Rutherford. He notes that: Johnson portrayal of Rutherford conveys an uncanny ability to find humor in the most tragic of circumstances. What might otherwise be viewed as a lonely and sad scenario comes across as comedic yet melancholic. For instance, Rutherford describes Isodara’s loneliness and her penchant for nurturing together with her lack of beauty. He tells the reader that: Implicit in Rutherford’s observation is a satire of a slave’s journey from slavery to freedom. The reader appreciates that Rutherford’s mind has also been freed. He is free to form his own opinions and he is free to go about his own business. With this freedom comes a lightness rather than resentment. Rutherford does not look back with ire instead he looks ahead with hope and anticipation. Everything about Rutherford is associated with a positive note and with this comes a measure of comedy where none would otherwise exist. The humor is used by Johnson to exemplify anachronism. In other words it fills the gap between Rutherford’s own situation and history and the current reader. In one scenario, Rutherford observes "his face looked, so help me, like five miles of bad Louisiana road".(Johnson, p. 54) In yet another scenario Rutherford makes light of racism via the use of anachronism by