Wrapping it Up.

Well, it's sad that the year is almost over so I'm going to basically wrap up my thoughts on the topic of wit. Although I'm still not certain what exactly "wit" is, I can deffienetly tell you what I've learned about it's uses and what effects they have on the reader.
The first way in which I've seen wit is in referring to popular beliefs and twisting them around or presenting them from a less common angle. One can even go as far as saying wit inverts reality...which I must say, is hilarious. Using wit for this reason is seen in many of Parker's poems where she goes as far as mocks and satirizes beliefs and values in society.

Ahh and wonderful irony.... an especially important key in creating wit. I've mostly seen this so far in Lucky Jim where many of the situations the characters go through are controlled by ironic fate rather than their own actions. Amis also mockes human nature and the descrepancy between their beliefs and actions. Also, Parker uses words and their connotations in different ways that are not expected which also makes her poems quite witty. Amis is very blunt in his descriptions and the thoughts of his characters where it is very clear of the mockery.

Well wit, it's been interesting.

Another witty song.

"Mouthwash" by Kate Nash

This is my face
Covered in freckles
With the occasional spot
And some veins
This is my body
Covered in skin
And not all of it
You can see
And, this, is my mind
It goes over and over
The same old lines
And, this, is my brain
It's torturous analytical thoughts
Make me go insane
And I use mouthwash
Sometimes I floss
I got a family
And I drink cups of tea
I've got nostalgic pavements
I've got familiar faces
I've got a mixed-up memory
And I've got favourite places
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright
This is my face
I've got a thousand opinions
And not the time to explain
And this is my body
And no matter how you try and disable it
Yes I'll still be here
And, this, is my mind
And although you try to infringe
You cannot confine
And, this, is my brain
And even if you try and hold me back
There's nothing that you can gain'
Cause I use mouthwash
Sometimes I floss
I've got a family
And I drink cups of tea
I've got nostalgic pavements
I've got familiar faces
I've got a mixed-up memory
And I've got favourite places
I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

So...I thought this song was witty. The way it intertwines her daily actions and the way she is with the actual situation she is involved in. She begins by describing her physical appearance like how her face is "covered in freckles". She then uses a playful tone to introduce how they are part of her body which some of it people can not see. She then introduces her mind which "goes over the same old lines" and her "brain" which produces "torturous analytical thoughts" that "make [her] go insane". This is interesting here because she uses a synedote...the "brain" represents her emotions and way of thinking as well as her "mind". Heh..it's interesting how she quickly shifts in the song (almost to show her inability to continue her thoughts about herself. She talks of "mouthwash" and "floss"ing...ordinary items that are used by most people...she goes on to further build her ethos or establish a common ground between her and the listener. By doing this, she is able to talk of "pavements" (which are also ordinary objects that most of us step on ..on the sidewalks) This is a creative twist here because she describes that these pavements are "nostalgic" personifying these objects. Through this personification, she is able to delve into the topic of her thoughts again by saying that she's got a "mixed-up memory" and "familiar faces" and "favorite places " to show her fast stream of thoughts. She continues to see say shes got "a thousand opinions" but so far, shes only been objective except for the subjective adjectives she used to describe the ordinary objects. "And not the time to explain" shows that shes so consumed in her ordinary life that she has to time to explain her feelings and thoughts. "No matter how you try and disable it", her body still does the same old things...consumed in her ordinary life. "Yes I'll still be here And, this, is my mind And although you try to infringe You cannot confine And, this, is my brain And even if you try and hold me back There's nothing that you can gain" --> It seems throughout the entire song, she is trying to hide the fact that she does not think or feel for herself but she knows she does. She covers it up by describing the different things around her that are part of her daily life. Towards the end, through witty observation and an empowering voice, she breaks free of this persona that he is too busy to feel and proves that she can and that no one can stop her no matter what.

Kingston! Chapter 6.

Hello. Well, this is quite an odd book...although I do find it quite comical so far and very witty. Chapter 6 starts off with Dixon and how he falls asleep only to wake up with many holes on his bed. The witty aspect in this chapter seems to be the concept of bad luck vs. the choices Dixon's makes and what he ends up experiencing. Interestingly enough, the language and description of the scene after the fire once he wakes up makes it seem as if he is the victim and had nothing to do with his terrible fate. Because he was drunk the night before, he forgets to put out his cigerrate and falls asleep...you'd think he'd blame himself for it but blames it on being beat up by some "secret police". This aspect of this chapter is somewhat witty because instead of exemplifying how humans tend to blame themselves for their mishappens, Dixon blames luck. Now, this is witty because society's beliefs are inverted here.

Simplicity...Love and Wit.

"Birds"
She was waiting at the station
He was getting off the train
He didn't have a ticket
So he had to bum through the barriers again
Well the ticket inspector saw him rushing through
He said "girl you don't know how much I missed you but
We'd better run 'cause I haven't got the funds to pay this fine."
She said "fine"
Well so they ran out of the station and jumped onto a bus
With two of yesterdays travel cards and two bottles of bud
And he said "you look well nice"
Well she was wearing a skirt
And he thought she looked nice
And yes, she didn't really care about anything else'
Cause she only wanted him to think that she looked nice
And he didBut he was looking at her, yeah all funny in the eye
She said "come on boy tell me what you're thinking
Now don't be shy."
He said alright, "I'll tryAll the stars up in the sky
And the leaves in the trees
All the broken bits that make you jump up
And grassy bits in between
All the matter in the world is how much I like you."
She said "what?"
He said "let me try and explain again
"Right, birds can fly so highAnd they can shit on your head
And they can almost fly into your eye
And make you feel so scared.
But when you look at them
And you see that they're beautiful
That's how I feel about youRight birds can fly so high
And they can shit on your head,
And they can almost fly into your eye
And make you feel well scared
But when you look at them
And you see that they're beautiful
That's how I feel about you
Yeah that's how I feel about you."
She said "what?"
He said "you"
She said "what are you talking about?"
He said "you"Right birds can fly so high
And they can shit on your head
And they can almost fly into your eye
And make you feel so scared.
But when you look at them
And you see that they're beautiful
That's how I feel about youRight birds can fly so high
And they can shit on your head
And they can almost fly into your eyeAnd make you feel well scared.
But when you look at them
And you see that they're beautiful
That's how I feel about you
Right, that's how I feel about you
She said "thanks, I like you too"
He said "cool"

Again, I'm going to use another song by Kate Nash to explain wit. I just thought it was really interesting how she did this...it's really facinating how she turned an ordinary topic of an exchange between two people who are attracted to one another and used how ordinarily they would admit this in comparison to a witty way in which the guy decides to admit this feelings. This is both ironic and different in the way in which she takes this oridinary topic and presents it in a different way uncommon to how it is usually done in society.
The first way Nash does this is the way she starts off by presenting the guy and how he arrived to see her but does not have his ticket so instead of greeting her fondly, they have to run away from the ticketmaster. The reader/listener can tell that she is not happy with this because she uses the reply of "fine" (which, of course, is a sign that it is obviously not 'fine' in the eyes of the lady here...men often do not realize that this word is a large indicator that a female is not happy...again, ironic here because Kate actually acknowledges this and somewhat mocks the guy for misunderstanding).
"Well so they ran out of the station and jumped onto a bus
With two of yesterdays travel cards and two bottles of bud" --> Ok, so Nash is very clever here because she uses a common situation but intertwines symbols (so that the reader does not necesserily pick up these symbols) in her song. The "station" here is something sedentary, not changing..yet there are always different people coming and going. This is important because the couple "jumped onto a bus" together...the next stage in their relationship. Interesting how a bus is a way of escape and is fast-moving...forshadowing here too? It seems from the second line here that their past together is something they hold on to and is about to blosson because she uses the word "bud" to show what was in their past. Cleverly, buds blossem...forshadowing their future relationship, maybe. It is quite clear that after this, she is in love with him as well because the speaker gives us an omnicsent perspective of the female character and the reader realizes that she values the guy's opinion and wants him to like her.
The guy begins to explain how he feels about the girl by comparing her to birds and different aspects of nature. The comical and ironic part here is that the reader would not expect the guy to be so poetic or metaphorical because he is the one who "escapes" to see the girl. The girl, on the other hand, pretends (or maybe really does not know) what the guy is talking about (which is the ironic part because again, she seems to be very alert and selective as to what to say to the guy). The interesting thing here is that afterwards, she replies (assuming she was only pretending to be ignorant) to state bluntly (after the guy's intricate and beautiful description of his love) by simply saying, "thanks, i like you too".
What is the purpose for Nash to present such a situation? Well, regardless of how either one of these two lovers explains...essentially, they both like each other. Whether they put it in metaphorical and beautiful poetry or just state it bluntly, the matter is essentially that they are in love. It's just that simple. It seems Nash wants to present how often people complicate matters when it comes to their emotions because they simply can not express themselves...although no matter how they do it, it's still a powerful feeling they need to tell the other person.

Updates on Wonder Wit.

So I've noticed so far...that wit is all about taking popular beliefs and twisting them around or presenting them from a less common angle or inverting reality (presented in many of Parker's poems where she satirizes or even goes as far as mocks society's values and opinions on different topics). Irony is especially key in creating wit (I have mostly seen this so far in Lucky Jim where many of the situations the characters go through are controlled by ironic fate rather than their own actions). Also, Parker uses words and their connotations in different ways that are not expected which also makes her poems quite witty. The thing is, so far, I have found that wit is all about mocking, poking fun at, or satirizing an aspect of life or character flaw.
That's what I've found so far....trying to get the jist of the big picture because i sometimes get hung up on just the details.
Stay tuned :)

Chapter 5: Lucky Jim

Chapter 5.

You know, I'm finding it really hard to describe wit as seen in these beginning chapters. I mean, it's pretty funny how Amis is using the characters and setting to play a part in the "wit" but exactly what makes these chapters witty, I'm not quite sure yet.
In this chapter, the humor lies in the fact that several characters are coming in and out of the house. A character strategy is the Dixon's is completely drunk and disoriented....he wants to enter the house again yet everywhere he tries to go (example, his kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom), he can't get access too because they are either closed or occupied. The IRONY (o yes, wit is created through irony a LOT in this novel) is that his drunkeness has nothing to do with his inability to get anywhere in his own house. Also, it's funny and ironic here because he sees certain things that he wishes he hadn't (ie the reader sees that Carol and Welch are having an intimate moment...having an affair? The reader does not know yet). They break the social profile because they don't belong to the same social class and during this time, it was not common to see such a moment. That's all the wit I saw in that chapter...It's interesting, so...irony presented through the characters' personalities and actions and the situations they go through is what makes up the wit so far in this novel. Stay tuned :)

Parker Poem

Just thought this was a cute poem, quite witty too, that I felt like TPCASTTing in between my reading of Lucky Jim, enjoy. I really liked this one...I dont think I did this one before.

"Men seldom make passes
At girls who wear glasses"

Title: News Item implies that the speaker has discovered a piece of information or fact that is universal or well known.
Paraphase: Men really don't look at girl who wear glasses.
Connotation:"item"-I thought this word played off the less commonly used definition for being a couple or being involved in a relationship. Maybe to introduce, subtely to the reader, what the theme or purpose of the poem is reflecting."men"-interesting contrast between how the speaker uses this word in comparison to when he uses "girls"; symbolizes maturity and different interest. Somewhat mocks manly attributes."seldom"-it's interesting how this word is used due to its change in formality. The rest of the diction used is more colloquial which makes this word stick out; almost uses the diction and level of formality that would be seen in a newspaper articule"girls"-makes them seem immature; not ready to take on a relationship or haven't even reached the age where it's ok to have one. (See referance to "men")"glasses"- metonyme usage here because I assume that "glasses" stands for a person of intellectual rigor which clearly is not what "men" are looking for in a female (yes, I said this in a sarcastic manner-please note =p because quite frankly, the speaker is trying to portray the exact same attitude as I have just stated)
Attitude: Mocking. I can not find a better way to describe this. This is built up through the diction and the way the "men" and "girls" are portrayed and the fact that the only reason men dont go for certain girls is because they are intelligent.
Shift: After the first sentance, which goes from an introduction to what men look for in women (you'd think it would express somethign positive or at least optimisitic and the reader would assume this because news articles don't usually state or slander the behavior of men) but takes an unexpected turn to reflect upon a hasty generalization that men do not go or look for intellectual women.Theme: Men are superficial and are not interested in women who have high intellectual rigor. (Maybe this theme plays a part in what was going on in society at the time. I'd have to research more because there is no background information)Title: I think the title is what creates the attitude and wit of the poem because the speaker is making his/her opinion sound like a fact although it truly is his/her own personal opinion.