Sea Oak by George Saunders - Essay Example

Insert Sea Oak by George Saunders George Saunders’ “Sea Oak” is a discrete satirical story presented in a number of ways in order to capture the interests of many readers. The storyline is based on an underprivileged household staying in a low class neighborhood, with the characters serving as clear embodiments of stereotypes targeted at the poor within the society. The two female siblings of Thomas remain unmarried but with children of their own. They sit in the house watching crappy programs on the television set. Thomas, their male sibling and narrator, does some kind of strip shows for income. One of his sisters contends that if they had secured a diploma certificate, they could understand the television content and not be sidetracked in any way. The sisters discuss about the number of sides a triangle has from their low social class Sea Oak home. The neighborhood is rife with crime, even as Thomas and Auntie Bernie are forced to sacrifice their own life and dignity in an attempt to improve the poverty situation. This paper explores the use of satire in Sea Oak; the importance of the literary style to and effectiveness in the storyline. The Analysis Saunders’s portrayal of the low-class setting is both comical and somehow pushy into resignation. There is a wind of hopelessness in the whole scene. At first, Freddy orders the children to make a squat, hence projecting the image of the dangerous crap-hole more vividly. Then the engulfed lot feels the tragic side of life in the freaking American life where capitalism dictates that the underprivileged work out extremely hard to earn a place in the less risky crap-hole. According to Saunders, the demise of Aunt Bernice plunges the family into financial doldrums, which affect her giving of a decent burial (4). The bereaved are forced to buy a low-priced, balsa-made coffin for the Aunt. Immediately the burial, a church minister tells them the body of their loved one had been procured inappropriately. Bernice’s spirits then leave her body and advance in the house in Christ-like fashion to offer the family effective guidance on how to overcome the nasty situation they are in. Bernice continues decaying in their residence. As her arms break away, she utters wise words on how to cope with life. She repeatedly tells Thomas to go show his manly strength out there. Rando says message basically implies that the only path to success in the society is to steer clear of morality and becoming a prostitute (438). Although she succumbed to death without ever being touched by a man, Aunt Bernice is lamenting that her moral life which she sacrificed to achieve in her effort to consider the plight of others did not help her in any way (Saunders 9). Her story implies that hers was a society where every person was concerned with only their interests and showed less concern for those who sacrifice to make the society a better place to live in. As such, Sea Oak effectively captures the American stereotypes, especially at the beginning of the story, but it soon unravels Saunders’s penchant for a clearer picture of several themes such as poverty, religious philosophy and the social segregation of the capitalist society. Importance of satire As Krystal said, Saunders uses satire to assess class profiles and cut off the extremes of the plight of the underprivileged members of the society (81). Through satire, the author advocates for the elevation of the poor members of society up the social strata without raising eyebrows from any social quarters. He, however, warns that improving the status of the poor in society is quite a daunting task that can even require sacrificing precious human life in order to achieve. As Krystal opined, Saunders’ comical style enables readers to get an authentic view of different variations of life in a capitalist society and with his established and convincing choice of characters the story makes the comparison of the eccentric elements of the life deeper and more enjoyable, with the seriousness of poverty in the society notwithstanding (83). The reader immediately comes to terms with the indigence of the storyteller and members of his immediate social environment when Thomas contends that Margie gives him me an Instamatic and proposes paltry cash to close the deal (Rando 452). He readily accepts the offer partly because he does not have any other viable option in sight and partly because his situation could deteriorate. The style shows readers that an individual who does not have adequate resources cannot refuse any offers of goodies presented to them. Yet others have great optimism of safety even in the direst of circumstances. It is arguable, therefore, that the narrator’s intention is not to have riches to his name nor leave the stripping business, rather he just desires to guarantee his family of safety even if it takes moving all of them to Canada (Rando 444). The narrator is not, however, assertive enough to initiate such a drastic transformation because he can amass fewer resources to initiate such action. He would rather use whatever resources he has to survive under the prevailing capitalist system. As such, the author’s realistic eagerness to be safe with his family, irrespective of where destiny would land them is quite appealing to many readers in the sense that money is not the absolute answer to all problems. Stereotyping the underprivileged Despite the clear depiction of Thomas as an ambitious person who would really be happy if he and his family were safer, Min and Jade represent the less ambitious lot within the poor community (Rando 447). The latter two characters appear to represent the stereotypes that have been held against the poor, perhaps since time immemorial: they are poor, lazy, uneducated and too unmotivated to improve their situation. By being lazy, single mothers, Saunders clearly does not want to create an impression of sympathy for them on the readers’ minds, because the characters embody a category of individuals who are just lazy (Rando 448). Min and Jade are the exact opposite of the hardworking Aunt Bernie and the narrator, as the latter two characters both toil to improve the situation the family is in. This is especially true considering that the two mothers are abdicating their duty to provide for the children they sired. Min and Jade have pushed their own responsibilities to their close relatives, while they lazy around watching television programs which they cannot effectively understand. Social, cultural and political life Saunders gives a vivid description of the social challenges of life is in the narrator’s immediate neighborhood, the Sea Oak estate. As it is the case in many low class neighborhoods, crime is depicted as rife in the area by virtue of delinquent youths that fire on the residents and leave their traces in the pools. Saunders persistently portrays the lack of hope among members of the community and the reader eventually understands that Thomas is actually disgraced by his poverty life when he encounters an ex-girlfriend at the Joysticks workplace. Thomas questions his presence at Joysticks and in wrong attire, which he infers might worry Angela much about her friend did or failed to do to earn him a place at the business. As Krystal said, it can be inferred that Saunders advisedly created the strip club scene and placed the narrator in there as a way of depicting current-day jobs in a capitalist system as somewhat similar to the business of prostitution (84). In the capitalist system, people engage in jobs which benefit them financially, rather than those that are socially fulfilling and beneficial to the general society. As such, Thomas cuts the image of a worker who is too detached from himself when he is on the job to the extent that he uses third person in reference to himself on a number of occasions. For instance, he acknowledges being offered ten bucks for “Thomas’s tush” (Saunders 1) In that particular scene it is evident that the Joysticks business requires workers to give in to their use as prostitutes who are usually picked, used, dropped, and substituted by newer and more beautiful ones. This kind of treatment is evidenced in Lloyd, whom upon discharge from the job is branded a stinker (Rando 447). Thomas confirms the label and the culture of prostitution is his statement that every person would lose their cuteness at some point in time. This way, Saunders cleverly paints the grim picture of human culture in a social and political environment dominated by capitalism. He asserts that amoral ways are the most effective way to success; these ways include; the poor seeking charity created by amoral means; feigning happiness as a way of accepting the situation; or engaging in ‘prostitution.’ This is especially true because the prevailing American capitalist culture and related institutions have created a few wealthy individuals who are insensitive to the plight of the poor. The vivid mentioning of Canada evokes an interesting juxtaposition of the viability of the American capitalism and Canada’s socialism (Rando 444). The debate between the two political systems is, however, cut short when Thomas proceeds to note that Canada may offer better solutions, but it is less influential in America and would not help Thomas’s situation any better back home. Saunders then suggests that the prevailing American culture has rendered irrelevant any family hopes of becoming successful through inheritance of wealth or support from someone else. At this point, it can be inferred that Thomas and Aunt Bernie through their hard work would be climbing up the social class if the fruits of their efforts were not being channeled to support others, or if the beneficiaries, except the helpless babies, had stood on their own, but instead, the culture pushes Bernie to feign gratitude while Thomas sells himself. Conclusion Generally, Saunders effectively highlights the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the American capitalist society with effective satire, without which “Sea Oak” readers would be overwhelmed by sympathy and even tearful eyes. Saunders uses the best approach to portray how capitalist institutions and the resulting individualistic culture is indifferent to the poor, most of who have to sacrifice their own dignity and life in stripping business, for example, in order to keep their kin dressed and fed. Bernie and Thomas are particularly depicted as more intelligent and conscious about the life they and their kin should lead. They are optimistic that one day things would be better. Unfortunately, they pay the price for being excessively depended upon, by remaining poor. Works Cited Saunders George. “Sea Oak.” Google Docs, 2000. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. Krystal Arthur. “A Critic at Large: Easy Writers.” The New Yorker, 28 May 2012. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. < http://www.newyorker.com/> Rando, P. David. “George Saunders and the Postmodern Working Class.” Contemporary Literature, 53. 3 (2012): 437-460 Read More