Modernism
James Thurber
James thurber
• Full Name: James Grover Thurber
• Born December 8, 1894 in Columbus, Ohio
• Died November 2, 1961 in New York City,
New York (Age 66)
James thurber
• An American author, cartoonist and
celebrated wit
• Best known for his cartoons and short stories,
published mainly in The New Yorker magazine
then collected in his
numerous books.
• One of the most popular
humorists of his time, Thurber
celebrated the comic
frustrations and eccentricities
of ordinary people.
James thurber
• Parents: Charles L. Thurber and Mary Agnes (Mame)
Fisher Thurber
• Siblings: Two brothers—William and Robert
• Both of his parents greatly influenced his work. His
father is said to have been the inspiration for the
small, timid protagonist typical of many of his stories.
Thurber described his mother as a "born comedian“
• Once, while playing a game of William Tell, his
brother shot James in the eye with an arrow, and
Thurber lost that eye. This injury left him unable to
participate in sports and activities and would later
cause him to be almost entirely blind.
James thurber
Because his childhood became limited due to his
eye injury, Thurber developed a creative
imagination, which he shared in his writings.
Neurologist V.S. Ramachandran suggests Thurber's
imagination may be partly explained by Charles
Bonnet syndrome, a neurological condition that
causes complex visual hallucinations in otherwise
mentally healthy people who have
suffered some level of visual loss.
James thurber
•
•
•
From 1918 to 1920, at the close of World
War I, Thurber worked as a code clerk for
the Department of State, first in
Washington, D.C., and then at the
American Embassy in Paris, France.
After this, Thurber returned to Columbus,
where he began his writing career as a
reporter for the Columbus Dispatch from
1921 to 1924.
During this time, he reviewed current
books, films, and plays in a weekly column.
James thurber
• Thurber also wrote for the Chicago Tribune
and other newspapers when he returned
to Paris
• In 1925, he moved to Greenwich Village in
New York City, getting a job as a reporter
for the New York Evening Post
• He joined the staff of The New
Yorker in 1927 as editor
James thurber
• Thurber’s career as a cartoonist began in
1930 with the help of his friend and fellow
New Yorker contributor E.B. White.
• When White found some of Thurber's
drawings in a trash can, he submitted
them for publication.
• Thurber would contribute both his writings
and his drawings to The New Yorker
until the 1950s.
James thurber
• His best-known short stories are "The Dog That Bit
People" and "The Night the Bed Fell"
• Among his other classics are "The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty,“ "The Catbird Seat," "A Couple of
Hamburgers," & "The Greatest Man in the World“
• Thurber also wrote 26 novels—anthologies,
children’s stories, and drama plays.
• In addition to his other fiction, Thurber wrote over
75 fables
• Thurber's prose for The New Yorker and other
venues also included numerous humorous essays.
James thurber
• Many of his short stories are humorous fictional memoirs
from his life, but he also wrote darker material.
• Together with other New Yorker writers (like Robert
Benchley, E.B. White, Frank Sullivan, and Ogden Nash),
Thurber created a rich tradition of modern American
humor.
• Like many humorists, Thurber returned to his favorite
themes—In Thurber-Land, the men are often sad,
bewildered, and inept; the women are fierce and
determined; and their dogs are indifferent to men a
women alike, and are immersed in a fantasy world of
their own.
• Thurber was a dedicated craftsman, who rewrote his
works as many as 25 times.
James thurber
• Many readers have recognized that under Thurber’s
humor, there is a vein of melancholy that throws the
humor in relief and gives it a sharper edge.
• The poet T.S. Eliot called Thurber’s work “a form of
humor which is also a way of saying something serious.”
James Thurber
Keith Olbermann reading “The Catbird Seat”
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
The Unicorn in the Garden
The Last Flower
Portrayal of characters
Male
sad, bewildered, inept
immersed in fantasy
Female
fierce and determined
unimaginative
Humor
• Reversal-Flip the script---woman bested by the
ineptitude of the man
• Incongruity
• Idiomatic Expressions
The Unicorn in the Garden
• How does the cartoon illustrate Thurber’s
humor? What techniques does he use?
Edmodo 2: Watch The Last Flower
a parable in pictures