Satire

Postmodernism in Tuff

Tuff by Paul Beatty contains many aspects of Postmodernism literature. Beatty uses the response to realism and attempts to disrupt assumptions about certain stereotypes through his characters. The characters in this novel all seem to be based off of some stereotype of society. Beatty simply uses these stereotypes as a base for the characters and then adds elements to them to make them differ from the assumptions presented.
Winston is a great example of this. Winston is presented to the reader as an underprivileged drug-dealer in Harlem. However, as the novel progresses and Winston's character is more developed the reader is able to differentiate him from the stereotype that they are presented with through society. Winston becomes this underprivileged drug-dealer that has a family and who wants a better life for them. He becomes a person who is deeply interested and educated about film and has aspirations in his life. Although Winston still portrays aspects of his stereotype most of them are outweighed by the things that make him different.
This use of Postmodernism in the novel brings about the fact that there is no way to represent stereotypes accurately. There is no way to do this because of the complexity of people and their lives and circumstances. There is not one singular definition for any of the stereotypes out there.

Reasons for simple language in Fledgling

In this novel simple language is used throughout. This may be frustrating to some but there are reasons why this aspect of the novel is incorporated. Some of these reasons include Shori's amnesia and the limiting factors therein and the idea of an allegory within the novel needing to be showcased. The first of these can be backed up with the concepts of Shori having a blank slate about Ina just as the reader does. Her amnesia and the simple language helps the reader to develop and learn with her. The simple language also helps the reader see her as younger although she is 53 years old. Without this simple language the idea of Shori losing her memory and being young in comparison to others would be lost. If there was a stronger language used it would be difficult for the reader to relate to many of the characters in the novel. The second part of this is that the allegory that is present within the novel may get lost or become difficult to understand if the language was more complex. Since this novel is not literally about Ina but about racial issues, this hidden aspect could be lost within complex language. In other novels language is about a journey but in this novel it seems to represent solely the plot which leads to references in the society. The simple language also supports the numerous dialogue apparent in the novel. So although the simple language may make the reader feel as if they are reading something below their level of reading it is all for a purpose. Literature is used to incorporate social ideals and importance and Fledgling does this through simple language.

Shori vs. Lila Mae

Shori and Lila Mae both share a lot of the same attributable traits towards main themes.
* They both are a power to fear, a power that can bring about salvation or death.
* They are both displaced and isolated from their communities.
* They are both pioneers in regards to being the first of their kind.
* They are both figures of salvation and share a theme of resurrection.
* Enlightenment is brought to others around them through their knowledge or sense of self.
* Both of these characters are considered to be a kind of messiah for their kind but they are both not the messiah that their society desires.
All of these things relate to some of the major themes in the novels Fledgling and The Intuitionist. These themes include community, isolation, dislocation, and salvation.