on humour and narration in BSS
One thing I appreciated about ballad while reading is how legitimately funny it is. Right from the start I was howling with laughter – and this isn’t a surprise, per se, because Katniss was very darkly funny, and so was Peeta, and Haymitch, and Finnick and Johanna and – but Snow so desperately wants to be taken seriously that you don’t expect it to be funny.
This is the thing about POV though, Snow takes himself very seriously but the narration does not, not for a second. And this is why it’s great.
The very first scene is a poverty-stricken teenager trying to make himself and his family a meal that will stretch long enough to keep them from starving. Think about the tone that could set. Imagine the kind of sick horror that could bring.
We could, in fact, imagine it exactly, because we have a direct comparison: the Hunger Games, and every time Katniss thinks about food. The hard calculation and quiet desperation, she knows exactly how long every piece of bread or cheese will last, how long one meal will stretch, how long killing Prim’s goat would get them if she can’t get enough from hunting or trading. There is nothing – absolutely nothing – funny in Katniss’ narration when food is discussed.
Instead as our first line we get:
Coriolanus released the fistful of cabbage into the pot of boiling water and swore that one day it would never pass his lips again. But this was not that day.
Now, this is a good line, dare I say a great line. It is, in fact, even relatable. But it’s also funny – it’s a parody of real drama. (“There may come a day when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship – BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY! THIS DAY WE FIGHT!”) The fact that Coriolanus says it seriously and we are invited into a larger literary context that shows how small the moment really is (it’s not war, it’s cabbage) is a hint that we are meant to laugh at him.
This is the first clue, y’all: he doesn’t know it’s funny.
And then the scene keeps going. Again, the scene itself, on the surface? Serious. He’s poor. He’s hungry. He needs to present a certain image or he won’t be able to get a job, because no one will hire you if you have holes in your clothes or can’t afford soap for a shower – these are real problems that many people in poverty face. We could be invited to sympathize with him.
We’re not. Again, and again, the novel breaks for humour. We’re invited to laugh. Not at the situation – not at poverty – but his specific interpretation of it. His reaction, how it was created, how it was shaped, how power pervades it still at every step. Humour is our clue that we should not take Snow seriously.
despite residing in the penthouse of the Capitol’s most opulent apartment building, was as poor as district scum – a RIDICULOUS line, I laughed incredulously when I read it, but HE MEANS IT. He thinks it’s TRUE
Only one thing — herself — and the house of Snow had not yet fallen that far. Or was it falling now as he salted the cabbage? – ‘As he salted the cabbage’ is, again, a very funny line – and it comes on the heels of his callous offhand remark that Tigris giving herself over to prostitution TO BUY A SHIRT FOR HIM would be an insult to the family name and not a traumatic experience for her. Humour used as a big hint that he’s not taking this serious situation seriously and, at a meta level, we shouldn’t take him seriously
the lines where Coriolanus critiques his grandmother’s singing (hilarious!) both undercut her dementia and his narrative of the glorious patriot and remind us this is really not a nice young man we’re dealing with
When he removed the lid, a mush of congealed, shredded potatoes stared back at him. Had his grandmother finally made good her threat of learning to cook? Was the stuff even edible? – Again this line is HYSTERICAL and again we’re undercutting what could be a very serious scene. It’s not letting us sympathize. It’s reminding us we’re not supposed to buy his reading of things. We’re supposed to laugh. We’re supposed to find him funny, not take him seriously. Remember, HE DOESN’T THINK WHAT HE’S SAYING IS FUNNY.
The cabbage began to boil, filling the kitchen with the smell of poverty. – Same deal: funny line, invites us to laugh, also invites us to critique. IS cabbage what poverty smells like? (Spoiler: NO. That’s a whole other post and I’m not going to get into that here thanks, but for a literary comparison, Katniss has some good actual examples.)
I’m going to stop there, but you get the idea. BALLAD is incredibly funny. It is both funny on purpose and funny unintentionally – in that Snow (the character) doesn’t intend to be funny, but the author writing Snow very much intends him to be from the outside. It’s used as a signalling device to place him as a figure of power and privilege even when he’s positioning himself as a victim deserving of sympathy, and it’s very, very well done. And it makes it incredibly entertaining to read, rather than expecting us to cry over this poor misunderstood snot.
Mock that dumb rich boy, y’all. Mock him good.
germansingergirl
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
titsay
