The Effect of Humour in Galloway’s the Cellist of Sarajevo

People of all ages and cultures suffice to witticism. Riddles and jokes hurl been told for centuries to confine light of situations and to make people laugh. gratify is the design of particular experiences to provoke laughter and provide am mapment. People are able-bodied to be am exercised, laugh, or pull a face at something funny, and therefore they are considered to take aim a sense of humour. To find something humourous depends on the person and their judge in humour and there are many instances when humour does not result in laughter because of the mood of the purlieu or the context.Humour is an emotion that enables us to experience joy even when faced with adversity. It bum be conn that in Galloways The Cellist of Sarajevo, humour is used in a dark way to lighten the mood. This is done so that the readers move over glimpses of light in a meritless cadence. Humour helps people, in this fibre the natures, carry on their lives in beats of adversity. Galloway us es the lives of Kenan and Dragan to exemplify how humour, in the slightest form, provoke make a dreary day a little much pleasant. Through examining the life of Kenan, a middle aged man, it will be proven that humour has an important role in his daily life.Kenan has the job of carrying canisters to the brewery to bring clean, filtered water for his family and Mrs. Ristovski, the neighbour. Before the war, Kenan was a clerical assistant at an accounting firm. His journey to the brewery is very risky because at any draw he may be shot therefore, humour has a abundant impact in the way Kenan presently lives his life. Before Kenan leaves his house his married woman and him joke about their clothes Would you like me to get you some fit out? No, she says. But Ill take a hat if you put on timeOf course, he says. I would assume you would like mink? (Galloway, 26). At a time of war, fancy clothes will not benefit all of them, nevertheless he leaves his wife in a good mood. Amila a nd Kenan use light humour to make a dark situation a little easier to bear. Another example in which Kenan uses his humour to make his grey, dreary journey a little more pleasant is when he walks across an older man slanting for pigeons Hows the fishing today? Kenan asks, Theyre biting well, the man says, Do you need a licence this time of year? e asks, smiling so the man understands its a joke (Galloway, 64). Seeing the man fishing for pigeons was a brief perplexity for Kenan and also a window of hope with seeing the man, Kenan felt that if he could finish his mission of collecting water for his family, he could also fish for pigeons to help his family. The humour is light it makes the reader pause, and makes the characters forget about their surroundings and just smile. Kenan made slight of the situations he faced so that he can smile, and make it seem that life will carry on with the war.Just as Kenan used humour in his life, Dragan, previously a baker does the same to fill the void of his missing son and wife who left on the last bus to Italy. Dragan now lives with his sister and her family, and to have his space he goes to collect bread from the bakery for the family. While on his journey he has seen many men and women run to cross roads so that the snipers have less probability of hitting them. Dragan likes to see the running as a game The man runs in a uninterrupted line. Hes fast. A new world record? Maybe. maybe they will have to notify the people at Guinness (Galloway, 230). Dragan uses sarcasm to make an almost dangerous situation seem funny since the civilian has survived. Dragan likes to see things for what they are, and to make the most of a situation. There is no need to concentre on the bad when there is also much to be pleasant for. Just like Kenan, Dragan does face a lot of danger and hardships with relations with the loss of his family, but his humour and sarcasm seem to help him upgrade through and carry on with his life.Dragan uses his wit make it through the sturdy and challenging times, especially since he has no one by his side. Although Galloways The Cellist of Sarajevo is about a devastating, tragic time in history, he manages to use humour in the characters to lighten the mood of the book. By examining how Kenan and Dragan use humour, it has been shown that humour assists in combat adversity. No matter what situation the character was faced with, they still had their humour, and as long as their sense of humour was alive, their sense of hope would live.As the humour helps the characters in the novel, it also makes the readers have something to tone down the darkness and despair of reality of the war. All persons are different and have appeal to a different sense of humour, but as long as there is something to put a smile on ones face, then there is something worth fighting for. Works Cited Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Toronto, Vintage Canada, 2008 Humour. Wikipedia The Free Encyclop edia. Wikimedia Foundation, n. d. Web. January 30, 2010