Chris Hopkins
Satirical writing, long or short, can allow a reader or an audience to test their skills in the games of
wit. However, say such a thing would usually bring up the major question to many. What is wit? Wit,
known and felt by most anyone, is the reasoning power of a person and the ability for one to cleverly
associating words with ideals. Again, though, to say this is not enough to cause the cerebration needed
for the full impact of understanding wit within itself. To make wit's definition clear and visible, there
must be more to interpret from satirical works. These are the originators of wit which is used to make
the wrongs of a society visible and provocative to the audience.
J.B. Lee Jr is one who inhabits the realm of making known the misuse of power in the
Government. J.B. Lee Jr, in his rhetorical “ Letter to the Honorable Ed Foreman”(1969), asserts that it
is an abuse of power for the government to give money to someone who has done nothing to earn it.
Lee outlines his position greater by making a serious-looking yet sarcastically humble letter to Foreman
about hoe much money he could make like others have for “not raising hogs.” Lee wishes to make it
evident to a congressman what is going on in order to stop the accretion of abuse in government power
and money. Lee pulls Foreman humorously to show extremes of such waste and to perceive a clear
window into the problems that some farmers, like Lee, were facing in that time. By making a witty
letter towards a man of great knowledge, it is assumed that that person can understand the flaw Lee
points out. Giving If/Then scenarios shows to not take the document serious simply because wit tells
the audience not to believe such absurd things can happen in the real world. It is this use of wit which
tells you that. This letter reveals that any and everyone has wit and can understand most if not all its
complexities.
The Onion, a top pseudo-news group that satirizes societies flaws, in it's report “Sumerians Look
On In Confusion As God Creates The World”(2009), illustrates that a strong belief in religion can cloud
the logical minds of people from facts about history. By giving specious historical reports of Sumerians
from 8000 B.C. When supposedly God created the world, The Onion is showing how naïve some
Chris Hopkins
believes of religion can be with their religious writings. The Onion makes fun of this Sumerian
confusion, “I do not understand. ...A voice said let there be light and it was already light”, in order to
point out flaws in some people's beliefs of everything in their religion is the one and only right thing.
Those who don't feel insulted and don't let religion block facts are the intended audience for this news
report so they may take humor from it. Well understood flaws in people is usually what is picked on
upon satirical writers. This association of making things look more serious than what they truly are is
what makes satire and parody so much part of what wit is.
Stephen Colbert, a persona news reporter who satirizes the serious flaws of much of today's news
reporters, in his segment “Sign-Off - 50th Anniversary of Bubble Wrap”(January 25, 2010),
demonstrates that some things that have survived over time should not always be celebrated and that it
is not very relevant to mention it so strongly in history. By seriously giving a small segment on bubble
wrap, comparing it to clouds, then destroying “a piece of the very first roll of bubble wrap ever made”
that he had, shows that it has no real impact to society or history. He does this in order to make people
stop placing seriousness on things that are not going to be very relevant to history. The intended
audience is truly anybody who understands irreverence of such things since it only attacks those major
groups who put anniversaries on any and everything. Exhibitions of satirical work better helps people
understand and interpret the satire of the creator of such satire. Wit is usually what determines the way
that humor and parody is interpreted. Colbert exonerates this branch of wit in many of his segments
through his serious yet sarcastic persona in the show, The Colbert Report.
Samuel Clemens us one to both insult and critique his own friend in a well written letter. Samuel
Clemens, otherwise known as Mark Twain, in his writing “Letter to William Dean Howells”(1880),
implies strongly that the friend he writes to is vain for putting a portrait next to his writing in a journal.
He presses sarcastically the portrait as “...being among the finest works of art which have yet appeared
in the journal,...” in order to actually have the opposite and true affect on the audience. Clemens is
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stating that a portrait an author is not important compared to the actual writing of an author and that
writing should be the only thing placed. Clemens, giving sarcastic wording throughout his letter, is
trying to make his friend understand what he believes by giving him a short laugh and a critique. Such
Wit like Clemens's to another understanding writer can be correctly processed and allows for a deeper
process of thought to occur.
What drives people to think about the subjects being made fun of is the fact of mixing truths of
shortcomings in society with humor to allow it to be spoken of in a more positive and less diluting
manner toward the public eye. It allows for ease to be taken when speaking of more touchy subjects
and resolves to make the thought of a problem better clear and correlated. This is why wit is so
powerful and even leads to a change in many cases of the world.