Pick one of the two options listed in this prompt, and post a well thought out, contemplative 200-400 word response. For those who answered last week's blog post, this is worth up to 5 points extra credit. For those yet to answer, this is a time machine that will wipe that zero from existence. (This will be the last such time machine.)
“Humor is crafted ambiguity, and ambiguities do not easily yield certainties.”
-Elliott Oring
“The perils of analyzing Allen should be obvious: academics who play around with him risk being played around with themselves.”
-David Galef
“Here is but a small sample of the main body of intellectual treasure that I leave for posterity, or until the cleaning woman comes.”
-Woody Allen
According to 18th century poet and essayist James Beattie, “Laughter arises from the view of two or more inconsistent, unsuitable, or incongruous parts or circumstances, considered as united in one complex object or assemblage” (qtd. in Oring 2). Elliott Oring, in his 1992 work, Jokes and Their Relations, furthers this claim: “The perception of humor depends on the perception of an appropriate incongruity—that is, the perception of an appropriate interrelationship of elements from domains that are generally regarded as incongruous” (2). This view, often attributed to Sigmund Freud (there is a slight difference, though, as Freud claimed this to be a “forced” juxtaposition) has appeared to reach a critical consensus in one form or other amongst humor theorists. I shall not disagree with this thesis. However, when it comes to the forced juxtaposition employed by Woody Allen, the depths of his particular brand of humor need to be plumbed rigorously, as he’s often working on multiple levels.
In his comic essay, “Remembering Needleman,” and short story, "The Shallowest Man," from the 1981 collection Side Effects, Allen employs the conflation of seriousness and silliness/absurdity to deal with the darkest of subject matter—death. What’s at work here is not just the forced conflation of disparate ideas, but a third element—an element of humor that hints that the structure of the joke is as important as the conflation of disparate ideas. In effect, Freud (and Beattie) hints at the main driving force behind the line by line witticisms evident in Allen, but neglects the structure. As Elliott Oring reminds us, “To neglect […] structural elements in conceptualizing the messages of humorous expression is to risk reading into them messages that may not be there, thus increasing rather than reducing levels of ambiguity” (15). I shall heed this warning, and further, claim that the particular structure that makes Allen’s jokes both wildly hilarious, and perhaps the main element in why we may consider Allen’s jokes as literary, is the comic non sequitur.
Maurice Charney, in his 1995 article, “Woody Allen’s Non Sequiturs” identifies this particular logical fallacy as the basis upon which Allen constructs his witticisms. Charney defines the non sequitur as joke thusly: "In the study of humor, a non sequitur usually refers to a kind of joke in which the punch line seems to have nothing to do with the narrative content of the joke proper. In other words, a non sequitur joke seems like a shaggy dog story. I use ‘seems’ advisedly because the hearer always makes some effort to connect the premises and the conclusion, although there is usually an unbridgeable gap between the two" (339).
Option 1) Analyze the structure of Allen’s humor in these two works. What’s at work here? What role do comic non sequiturs play? Also, what's the difference between Allen's non-sequitur jokes and the Family Guy-style cut-away?
Option 2) In both "Remembering Needleman" and "The Shallowest Man," Allen treats death as absurd, however, while Needleman the philosopher is presented as a Reductio ad Absurdum satire on the academy, "The Shallowest Man" seems to poke more effectively at philosophical dillemas. Analyze the philosophical dilemmas broached in this short story, as well as what Allen concludes by the ending.
llen's use of the non sequiturs in "Remembering Needleman" is more abrupt than his use of the non sequitur in "The Shallowest Man"; however, the continued abruptness of the non sequitur in "Remembering Needleman", is how the non sequitur became the comedic prop it is today. Allen's use of the non sequitur was something that could not have been as successful, if it was not for his stylish build up that became derailed of all practicality with a few words. Shows like Family Guy use the non sequitur as if it were incorporated into a formula; X amount of dialogue, plus random topical cut-scene insert, equals humor. Of course, even Seth McFarland is aware of how quickly such a formula becomes void of any humor after so many seasons of use; I thank the muse that gifted him with another.
ReplyDeleteThe uses of non sequiturs in “The Shallowest Man”are something more subtle. Instead of focusing on the one liners that deliver a chuckle or two, Allen focuses on the rationale of man can essentially make him capable of many things, given that he has enough reasons in his head. The use of the non sequitur in "The Shallowest Man" is also closely related to a BBC Sitcom, "Peep Show.” The humor comes from the straying of topics any persons mind can cause them to stray to and from. This includes the rationalization of pumping a dying man for information about his beautiful nurse, while bringing him lavish gifts only to impress the young nurse. Allen was a master of all things comedy, his work is timeless, and he shall remain one of my short story writers to date.
2)Death is a major part of life. Yet for Woody Allen, his characters experience such bizarre circumstances that death is the least of their concern. Whether it was the distraction of a nurse or the astonishing history of a man’s life, the topic of death plays a minor role. In “Remembering Needleman,” the main character of the tale has been dead for some time now, butt the simple biography of this man’s phenomenal life was bewildering enough. He developed his own philosophical ideals, norms, and language. What seems grotesque to us may be true but to this man the outsiders were the queer individuals. In the story of “The Shallowest Man” Mensel is presented with a friend of his dying from cancer. He is struck with denial and creates excuses for himself not to visit his friend; he even convinces himself he was not friends with this man but they were simply acquaintances. Finally he brings himself to the hospital, but sets a limit for himself so that he does not have to stay. This man cannot spare more than ten minutes of his life for another man that has very little of his life left. Yet, the terminal man takes it with good intention and thanks him. Mensel came to have his pride protected, yet his friend being ill was not what makes him return; rather it was Mr. Iskowitz’s nurse that had captured the attention of this shallow man. It was the sheer passion that kept Mensel coming back for more. Mensel has no regard for the dying man; he in fact uses him as a reason to see this nurse more. His egotistical arrogance is enormous. “I must have her.” He finds out she is engaged and yet he persists, abusing his friendship for the benefit of only himself. Yet his dying friend believes this shallow man was visiting only him. In the end the storyteller explains to his friends that Mensel lasted no more than a year with that nurse. It is debated amongst the men whether or not his acts were those of adultery, adoration, or altruism. All of these philosophical perspectives were presented to show representation of the critics, the over-analyzers, demonstrating how each person can interpret a simple action several different ways. In both tales these men are both prideful, stubborn, and determined to get what they want that they care about no one but themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn Both of the stories death doesn't seem like it is much of a factor.In "The Shallowest Man" Mendel was known as a shallow person. Mnedel friend recieve news that he has cnacer and only little time to live. He does not act appropriate to the situation, becuase he is stubborn and thinks that him and Meyor were not the best of friends. Mendel always made excuses about why he couldnt make it to the hospital, but instead he is worried about hisself more than anything. One day he actually gets to see him for only about ten minutes and was anxious to leave as soon as he arrived. Meyor thinks Lenny is being a great friend to him, but all along he is focused on his reputation for the guys. Mnedel leads on Meyor into thinking that he cares about him, becuase he keeps returing. Lenny discovers this pretty nurse so he thought if he keeps visting Meyor he will get to know more about his nurse. He brought gifts to Meyor to impress the nurse and not showing any interest in his death. Mendel only wanted to contribute to his love life by spending more time at the hospital. Mnedel tries to engage in conversation with the nurse and soon he finds out that she is engaged. With so much pride in him he gets the nurse,but their relationship didnt last to long. He was an unworthy friend and let his pride get the best of him as his friend was dying. At the end, some thought of him as being in love, stubborn, commited adultery,and that he felt obligated to go see him in the hospital. In " Remembering Needleman" it ties in, because both stories the men had self-confidence and in different ways of being stubborn.The philosophical dillemas indicates that people will take different procedures to get things that pleases them in the end. When you get those things they may not last and you can end up with nothing, becuase you were caught up in yourself.
ReplyDelete“Remembering Needleman” and “The Shallowest Man” center around death, but neither story focuses on the death itself. In the Needleman story, Allen uses Needleman’s death as a platform to present an absurd character, while in the Shallowest Man, death is the driving force to examine the character of Lenny Mendel. When put in the same position as Mendel, many would feel the visiting his dying “poker crony” as an obligation. Visiting someone who means little to you on their deathbed can be considered a selfish act, in that when visiting them, you are not going to for their interest but for your own. Mendel puts off the first visit for a while because he is “busy,” but when he finally goes he meets a young nurse and falls in love. He then continues to visit his dying friend in hopes to gain a relationship with the nurse, further promoting his own self-interest. It is also worth noting that the nurse Mendel falls in love with is new, and had he not put off visiting his dying poker buddy he may not have met the nurse, and would have only paid one visit. In the end, Allen shrugs his shoulders and basically saying “everybody won, so what’s the harm.” Mendel builds a relationship with his hot nurse, while his buddy feels loved and appreciated. By following his own self-interests, Mendel not only got what he wanted, but the dying friend, who knew nothing of Mendel’s real motives, died thinking he had a true friend. What’s the harm in that?
ReplyDeleteOption 2)
DeleteIn “Remembering Needleman” Allen lightens the subject of death by describing how absurd and frivolous Needleman was in his life. He points out many seemingly random events that occurred throughout Needleman’s life and goes into detail about these events. For example, when he talks about how Needleman came from Nazi Germany to the United States dressed as a bush and took only three steps at a time so he would go unnoticed. This is such a random thing, but it lightens up the mood of the whole story and makes the reader laugh. Needleman is portrayed as a very happy man with many quirks. In “The Shallowest Man” Allen describes Lenny Mendel as a person who only cared about himself even when one of his old friends was dying. He is only obsessed with his image so he forces himself to go see his dying friend. Then, he only returns to see the pretty nurse who is taking care of Iskowitz. Even when Iskowitz tells Lenny he loves him he is only concerned with himself! Allen does a great job of making Lenny look like an ass. In the end of both stories Allen’s point seems to be as long as the person died happy it is not so sad. In “Remembering Needleman” Needleman died with a smile on his face, and in “The Shallowest Man” Iskowitz died happy thinking someone actually cared about him. It seems to be that happiness before death is what Allen thinks is important.
Both “Remembering Needleman” and “The Shallowest Man” are examples of Allen’s dependence on comic non-sequitur. In the former, there is a more abrupt and jarring use of the non-sequitur jokes that gives the comic essay the more obvious absurdist feel of the two. In this way, “Remembering Needleman” is the work more relative to the humor of Family Guy. However, the ridiculous cut-away style of the television show usually does not have the wit necessary to reduce its subject matter to the absurd. Allen takes the rather serious topics of death of a close friend (who seems, at first glance, a respected and stoic academic) and renders them absurd through exaggeration of the eccentricities of the stereotypical academic. His examples of non-sequitur humor are related to the subject matter closely enough to give it a mocking undertone to the point of silliness, which I think is the main role of comic non-sequiturs. In contrast, Family Guy employs this sort of humor in a way completely digressing from its already ridiculous subjects to deliver quick, outrageous, and sometimes tasteless humor. Enhancing the humor in the situation at hand is generally considered more high-brow than random snippets of unrelated material for a quick laugh.
ReplyDeleteAllen also manages to use this method in the short story “The Shallowest Man.” The effect is more subtle and less jarring than the twists into the ridiculous throughout “Remembering Needleman.” There is more of a play on the values self-proclaimed philosophical minds hold about moral obligations and the concept of shallowness. The absurdity of the main character visiting his dying friend for the selfish purpose of wooing the friend’s nurse is played up by the declarations of his loyalty by his colleagues, the nurse, and the friend (even in his last days on his deathbed). At the end of the story, the narrator and his friends argue over the philosophical implications of the main character’s actions, bringing forth all these possible dramatic conclusions to be made. The argument concludes with one of the men describing the story as “an entertaining anecdote” without a point after all. This underlines the absurdity of philosophical discussion. The non-sequitur joke in this work is the contrast between the expected, perceived reasoning behind his actions and the real, selfish one. As shown by these two works, Allen clearly understands how to use this fallacy in logic to its best advantage.
Good points all.
DeleteIn both of these works, Allen uses the comic non-sequitur to turn the tragedy of death into something absurd. However, this literary device is used much more strongly in “Remembering Needleman” than in “The Shallowest Man.” In the former, the use of non-sequiturs turns what at first seems to be a respectable university figure into someone who is simply absurd. With each twist and turn of the passage, the reader expects to come across some redeeming trait of Needleman’s. This is never the case, however, as each line is built up perfectly but ended with absurd nonsense. In this way, each line brings with it a refreshing humor. Allen’s use of the non-sequitur relates to MacFarlane’s use of cut-aways in Family Guy by using these cut-aways to present something entirely unexpected to an already funny presentation. These cut-aways, while usually pointless, add something almost “necessary” to the show.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Shallowest Man,” Allen’s use of non-sequiturs is a lot more subtle than the former work, as he uses death as a means to an end. Lenny only continues to visit Meyer to pursue his love interest with Miss Hill. It is in this way that the story turns from tragic to absurd. The argument can be made that this is an example of tragedy plus time, as it is ironic that Lenny should happen to visit so close to Miss Hill’s starting of work at the hospital. To readers, we are simply wondering “Who would do this?” It is absurd to think of anyone being so shallow as to continue to visit a cancer patient for such personal reasons. While comparison to Family Guy is more difficult here, it can still be made. This absurdity in the actions of man can be compared to Family Guy’s common use of “then why did I...?” It is not uncommon at all for a Family Guy episode to end with some absurd segue that shows Peter Griffin wondering just why he did whatever he did, as these acts are negated by something another character says or does. I believe that these cut-aways from the TV show can be compared both to the absurdity in “The Shallowest Man,” as well as to the ending of the story, which leaves the reader wondering “why did I read this in the first place?”
Good comparison.
DeleteAs you read Allen's "Remembering Needleman" and "The Shallowest Man" you begin to identify exactly how he portrays his humor, his satire. In both stories, the subject of death is hidden or made to seem "less important". Allen does this by implicating non-sequiturs; many concepts, ideas, thoughts (all of which have nothing to do with death). For example, in "The Shallowest Man", death was disguised when Mendel's want and desire for the "sexy blonde hair, blue-eyed nurse" was exposed. The reader, no longer concerened with Iskowitz illness, now concentrates on how shallow Mendel could stoop. These non-sequiturs are mechanisms to throw off the reader, to disguise him from the suject matter, the truth. Moving along, I certainly recognize more similiarites than differences between Woody Allen's non-sequiturs and Family Guy's cutaways. The one main difference, I'd think, would be that one is on television and one is in a book. Furthermore, these devices are both designed to bring about a certain outcome, a new sense of thought. Both styles are a means to distract the audience in some humorous way, whether they think of it as funny or not. It seems as though these devices get the audience to think differently about the truth.
ReplyDeleteBy definition, a philosophical dilemma is a “conflict between moral imperatives”. In the short story “The Shallowest Man”, the main character Mendel is faced by a series of moral dilemmas. In the beginning of the story, as Mendel learns his friend is dying, he is faced with the conflict of whether or not to visit. The appropriate thing to do would be console his dying friend in the hospital but Mendel is scared that seeing his friend in such a diminished state would remind him of his own mortality. He holds off from visiting the hospital until his own conscience and the opinions of his associates catch up to him. Even then, he goes only as an obligation to his reputation. During Mendel’s first hospital visit is when his second dilemma presents itself, in the form of an attractive nurse. Mendel is now “using” his dying friend in order to form a relationship with a nurse who has a fiancé. This creates another philosophical dilemma; Mendel is now attempting to destroy a relationship.
ReplyDeleteThis short story ends with the storyteller and the listener debating on the morality of Mendel’s decisions. While a conclusion is never actually reached, it is the consensus that in the end Grendel and Iskowitz both got what they wanted. I believe Allen does this to illustrate how perceptions are often twisted and people see what they want to see.
I know this was a typo, but now I can't help but think about the beast from Beowulf visiting a dying man to gain the attention of his nurse.
DeleteIn both of Allen’s stories, he aims to focus on one thing which is how to make death a less serious matter. He does this by using jokes and humor to make the stories easier to digest. In “The Shallowest Man,” the main character Mendel is faced with a dilemma of death. Once Mendel hears of his friends illness he is immediately sympathetic, but his mind then begins to transition to all the reasons why he shouldn’t go and see Meyer. Not only is he scared of his dying friend but he begins to fear his own death. Mendel describes how just the sight of a hurse freaks him out. This is Mendel’s first dilemma he faces in the story. Mendel finally decides he will go and see Meyer, only because of his own self preservation. He then finds himself in love with Meyers nurse. He continues to go and visit Meyer only to see his newfound love. Mendel begins to face his next philosophical dilemma. He knows it’s wrong to make his dying friend believe he is coming everyday to see him, but yet he still decides to go. This just goes to show you humans will set aside even an issue as serious as death for their own personal gain.
ReplyDeleteGo beyond summary. Analyze, expound upon theories, etc.
Deleteon One
ReplyDeleteWoody Allen's comic essay "Remembering Needleman" and short story "The Shallowest man" exemplify his mastery of the non sequitur as a comedic device. In the first, the main focus of the story is a dead esteemed academic known as Needleman. Throughout the story, Needleman's outstanding discoveries are discussed, along with the respect such brilliant minds as Albert Einstein had form him. Each sentence starts logically, and each is rendered absurd by a simple phrase. The placement of what some consider such serious academic prose juxtaposed with such illogical phrases is used to make a mockery of Academia. In "The Shallowest Man", the main character is a man named Lenny Mendel. Meyer, his weekly poker buddy for the past five years is diagnosed with cancer and is not expected to live long. Mendel freaks out at the news of this, reminded of his own mortality, and now obligated to visit a dying man he feels he barley knows. He convinces himself of all the reasons he could not and should not visit his friend in the hospital. After about two weeks of procrastination and reschedules, Mendel finally decides to go to the hospital, but this is mostly to save face. However, Mendel unexpectedly falls head over heels for Meyer’s nurse. This means Mendel will have to visit Meyer every day until his death to learn more about the nurse, ignoring his friend’s final sentiments and slowly planting seeds with the nurse. In the end, Meyer is eternally grateful for Mendel’s kindness having never experienced such a connection with another person. Mendel actually made progress with the nurse, having an affair that lasted for a year. The subtle nuance Woody Allen uses to spin this story humorously is brilliant. The juxtaposition of what could potentially be a serious romance with the expectations of living friends to see a dying friend is humorous, especially when the lust is for the nurse of the dying. Not to mention the humor of the absurdity in the knee jerk reaction to feel aggravated at the dying for the formalities that come with it. The story ends with the poker players discussing whether Mendel was shallow, in love, or if it was just good enough Meyer had the illusion of company. Finally Woody Allen elegantly wraps up saying, “Who cares what the point of the story is? If it even has a point. It was an entertaining anecdote.” thus rendering his entire short story absurd and meaningless. This differs from Family Guy cut away sketches in the way Woody Allen’s non sequitur humor is used to render the everyday phenomenon of life as absurd, thus making a mockery of it. Family Guy does not seem to have as many levels to their humor, just trying to be as stark contrasting and ridiculous as possible for a couple of cheap laughs.
In both of these short stories, Allen satires death. In “Remembering Needleman”, Allen simply ridicules the life of the philosopher Needleman; in doing so, he belittles the subject of his death. The speaker picks random, meaningless events in Needleman’s life and explains them in great detail distracting the reader from his death and making the whole story seem very absurd. In the absurdity of the story, the reader finds himself laughing which is Allen’s exact purpose on expostulating on these random events instead of the man’s death. “The Shallowest Man” is a story about Lenny Mendel who would seemingly do anything to avoid going to the hospital to visit his dying friend. Finally, Mendel forces himself to drop in on his friend, Meyer, but only in order to keep up personal appearances to himself and his friends. He purposely goes to visit ten minutes before visiting time is over so he won’t have to stay long. When the nurse comes in to tell Mendel he has to leave, he finds himself in love with her. He then decides to go visit Meyer often so he can become closer to the nurse and hopefully make her fall in love with him. The story goes on to chronicle Mendel’s own selfish motives in visiting his dying friend, while Meyer is extremely grateful for Mendel’s devotion and truly loves him by the time he dies. But still, all Mendel can think about is getting the nurse to end her current relationship to be with him. He practically doesn’t even notice that his friend is extremely close to dying, and then dying right in front of him because he is so preoccupied with his own thoughts of the nurse. The question raised by this story asks is it okay that Mendel visited his dying friend for his own selfish reasons? Meyer never knew that the nurse was the reason he kept visiting. Meyer died a happy man because he believed he found a true friend who was willing to sacrifice so much for him. Also, Mendel got what he wanted because he ended up dating the nurse for a while. If both were happy then shouldn’t it be okay?
ReplyDeleteEdwin Trauth
ReplyDeleteIn contrast to “Remembering Needleman” in which Woody Allen raises questions through his use of absurdist humor, in “ The Shallowest Man” Woody Allen aims to provoke similar thought but uses a more philosophical approach. More specifically he sets up philosophical dilemmas for the reader to decipher for himself. Such dilemmas are throughout the piece beginning with whether Mendel should visit his terminally ill acquaintance, Meyer, in the hospital. Although Mendel realizes that Meyer would appreciate the visit, his overwhelming dislike of such awkward situations in combination with his feelings of Meyer as a distant friend reinforce Mendel’s hesitation to visit. Furthermore, a similar dilemma arises that pits Mendel’s compassion for his friend against his new found interest in Meyer’s nurse. Both situations demand Mendel to decide if it’s what’s best for him or what’s best for someone else (Meyer in these situations). Although in each instance a particular choice is what is considered to be the right thing to do (having someone else’s interest before your own) Mendel can make a logical argument to the contrary. He stated that although it could be assumed that Meyer would appreciate his company, he is ill and may prefer to get rest and not want people to see him in an emaciated state. An argument can also be made that Mendel should not let his fascination with the nurse get in the way of the concern he should have for the well being of his friend Meyer. On the other hand if Mendel wasn’t fond of the nurse he would not visit as often and Meyer would be without company and die a lonely man. In fact Meyer even says that he loves Mendel for showing such “affection” in his last days (even if Mendel’s agenda was not exact what Meyer thought it to be). Allen points the difference takes on the situation in the last paragraphs when the men listening to the story have different views of who really benefitted from Mendel’s visitation. Was is Mendel who found temporary girlfriend or was it Meyer who had company in his last days?
Allen makes death almost insignificant in both these stories. Usually death is a tragedy but Allen has a way of making the subject of death humorous. In remembering Needleman, Allen pokes fun at the academy by telling about Needleman's absurd actions; doing back somersaults, wearing his coat with the hanger, bringing marshmallows to his funeral,etc. The titles of Needleman's works seemed to make fun of the academy the most because they were so obviously absurd and seemed to mimic academic titles. The absurd things that Allen describes about Needleman cause the reader to find the story humorous because these things are so absurd. In The Shallowest Man, Allen makes death humorous through Mendel's philosophical dilemmas. Mendel's first dilemma is whether or not he should visit his friend Iskowitz. He makes poor excuses for himself and even decides that they aren't even friends, just acquaintances. Finally when he does visit Iskowitz, he acts like it is torture and only comes back for the nurse. Both Iskowitz and Mendel are getting something out of Mendel's visits, but for completely different reasons. Allen voices these philosophical dilemmas through the voices of the friends discussing the story of Mendel. One friend thinks Mendel is shallow, another thinks that it shows how women help ease mens fear of death, and the last thinks the story is about how Mendel benefited from his friends death. In the end, Allen seems to say "does it matter?" No one knew the real reason for Mendel's visits but it made both Iskowitz and the nurse happy. Allen seems to believe that as long as it makes them happy does the real reason Mendel visited his sick friend matter?
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