Topdog And Underdog Analysis

In Parks’s Topdog/Underdog and Gish Jen’s Typical American, comedy in dialogue is implemented to mislead the audience away from the serious and tragic nature the works. While on the surface the dialogue in both of the stories may seem humorous, there is a deeper and more serious meaning that is foreshadowed by the remarks of the characters (mainly Booth’s and Ralph’s) throughout the story. Due to this, it is as if the audience is deliberately blinded by comedy until there is a sudden shift in the tone of the stories towards the brutal reality of Lincoln’s and Theresa’s fates. The establishment of humor as the general tone in the dialogue of the stories plays a crucial role in misleading the audience. In both of the stories the comedic nature
However, humor this time aims to confuse and cast doubt on the truthfulness of the allusion. For instance, in Topdog/Underdog this is seen when Booth and Lincoln demonstrate a play where Abraham Lincoln is to be shot by John Wilkes Booth. “Try it. I’ll be the killer. Bang! Aaaah That’s good…You look like worm on the sidewalk. Move yr arms. Good. Now scream or something. Aaaah! Aaaah! Aaaah!” (Parks, pg. 51). In Typical American a similar dialogue is seen when Callie and Mona talk about why their parents are late. “Where are they, Callie complained. Maybe they’ve been murdered, Mona said. Shot with machine guns” (Jen, pg. 279). As seen in both cases, humor now takes a darker form although it still aims to confuse and mislead the reader. Booth’s and Lincoln’s dialogue are humorous since Booth derides Lincoln by comparing him to a “worm on the sidewalk.” One the other hand, the scene in Typical American is humorous because of the way children (who intuitively would embody innocence) discuss the possible brutal death of their parents. In case of the scene in Topdog/Underdog there is almost certainty that Booth will kill Lincoln since their names are allusive and also their demonstration of the play is explicitly foretelling of Lincoln’s death. In spite of that, because comedy is weaved into their demonstration of Abraham Lincoln’s death, it is as if the characters are making fun of death. The impression is that by humorously portraying Lincoln’s death, Parks implicitly divulges the audience not to worry about Lincoln dying as in this scene he is merely pretending to die. The scene aims to shift the reader from ignorance of the impeding death of Lincoln to doubt that everything will end well. In Typical American, although Mona and Callie talk to each other about the possible death of their parents, it is clear that they are