Satire of Heaven
The reading and discussion we had in class today about Mark Twain’s piece which described Satan who was banished to Earth, and his issues with the new race of people and animals. He quickly describes the false dreams that many of these people have that consists of a heaven and hell and church. One of the things that we discussed was intense amount of offensive material in this piece. It made a lot of sense after reading it that it would have offended people during Mark Twain’s era. Religion was not just a part of your life and something that you did every Sunday, it was life. The morals and social restrictions on society were all based upon the religion of your family and town. By insulting these beliefs, that in many cases, keep people going, it could have serious negative ramifications in the society of many Americans who believe in a heaven and hell. While this was not meant to seriously do any damage, it may have if it had leaked into the public eye. Mark Twain is a fantastic satire writer, especially concerning an issue that is as strong as religion. To poke some fun at something that many people live and die by is not the greatest or kindest thing a man could do, yet its hilarious.
January 7th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Satire doesn’t really work if it’s not taking on something that’s a fundamental part of society–Huck Finn vs slavery and racism, for example, or Borat vs the ignorance of the average American. When satire is polite, or takes on something that’s not important, it’s pointless.