The Art of Humor in Charles Johnsons Middle Passage - Essay Example

Rutherford himself is a carefree man with a propensity for life on the wild side.  I immediately introduced the reader to Rutherford’s sense of humor and unbridled spirit when he states that:

"Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women."(Johnson, p.1)

            Although Rutherford’s statement is a bitter commentary on women, the manner in which he delivers it makes the statement palatable and could move even a female reader to laughter. The impression isn’t that woman as a whole are prone to disaster, but that Rutherford himself is unable to reconcile the responsibilities associated with relationships with his newfound freedom.  Later on, the reader learns that it is the idea of falling in love and losing his individuality that threatens Rutherford.  He notes that:

"Did I love Isadora? Really, I couldn't say. I'd always felt people fell in love as they might fall into a hole; it was something I thought a smart man avoided."(Johnson, p. 7)

Despite this cynical view of love and relationships, Rutherford once again employs humor in such a way that even the greatest romantics might be compelled to laugh at themselves.

            Johnson portrayal of Rutherford conveys an uncanny ability to find humor in the most tragic of circumstances.  What someone might otherwise view as a lonely and sad scenario comes across as comedic yet melancholic. For instance, Rutherford describes Isohara’s loneliness and her penchant for nurturing together with her lack of beauty. He tells the reader that:

“No, she wasn’t much to look at, nor was the hotel room where she lived with eight one-eyed cats, two, three-legged dogs, and birds with broken wings.”(Johnson, p. 6)

            Implicit in Rutherford’s observation is a satire of a slave’s journey from slavery to freedom. The reader appreciates that Rutherford’s mind has also been freed.  He is free to form his own opinions, and he is free to go about his own business. With this freedom comes a lightness rather than resentment.  Rutherford does not look back with ire instead, he looks ahead with hope and anticipation. I associate everything about Rutherford with a positive note, and with this comes a measure of comedy where none would otherwise exist.

In yet another scenario, Rutherford makes light of racism via the use of anachronism by observing:

“…the high-flown inscrutable way whites made the Cherokees talk in dime novels, or the Chinese in bad stage plays". (Johnson, p. 83)

Middle Passage delves generally in painful and strained circumstances but finds a way to add humor in a way that makes it more memorable.