Ring Lardner and Comedy

Has something made you laugh today? The truth is that in our society today, comedy is self-evident in everything that we do. What would life be like without the aid of humor to ease our long day? I’ll tell you, there would be nothing but a bunch of miserable people walking around making everyone else around them that much more miserable. Ring Lardner Senior throughout his short stories makes it apparent that he also believes in how important comedy is to everyday lives. Therefore, Ring Lardner Sr. uses comic devices and a simplistic diction in order to convey the theme of competition between men in society.

Comic devices such as slapstick, which is defined as comedy in the form of crude practical jokes, are commonly introduced in the writings of Lardner to show the competition found within a society. The short story, “The Haircut”, introduces Jim as the main character that is desperately battling a doctor for the love of a woman. Jim decides to set up a prank that w...