An Analysis of Thurber's CarnivalThe fables for our time contained in Thurber's Carnival are, in my opinion, particularly good examples of a writer who manages to "break the frame" to create humor and satire. In this essay I will explore the main methods used by Thurber to create humor and satire in the fairy tales "The Shrike and the Chipmunks" and "The Unicorn in the Garden"2. First, what do I mean by "broken frame"? '? This is a reference to the idea that the violation of our 'frames of reference', and the recognition of the inconsistency caused by it, is the basic element of humour. If it is necessary to explain the inconsistency, the humor will be lost. Kant expresses this idea when he says "Laughter is an affect that arises from a tense expectation that is suddenly reduced to nothing"3. Thurber violates several types of expectations in his attempts to create humor and satire. They range from the expectation of the rules of fairy tales and other literature, to the expectation of characterization and the expectation of the familiar saying. "The Shrike and the Chipmunks" is first and foremost a parody of the traditional fairy tale. It has all the traditional ingredients: anthropomorphized Chipmunks, corresponding to stereotypical human characters, the building of suspense around a type of behavior perceived as right and wrong, a corresponding climax and a moral at the end. Anthropomorphism is a common technique of humor. Umberto Eco explains that this is necessary so that the audience can laugh at the "broken frame", without the discomfort of empathizing with the frame breaker. "It is for this reason that the animalization of the comic hero is so important"4. But apart from this usage, Thur...... middle of the sheet...... 1-9.Kant, Immanuel.Critique of Judgment, Book II. E307 Photocopy. pp. 196-203.Thurber, James.Thurber's Carnival. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1983. Endnotes1. Umberto Eco, "Frames of comic freedom", in Carnival!, ed. TA Sebeok (Berlin: Mouton Publishers, 1984), p. 4.2. James Thurber, Thurber's Carnival (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1983). Fables for our time pp. 278 - 305. "The Shrike and the Chipmunks" pp. 290-291. "The unicorn in the garden" pp. 304-305.3. Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgment, Book II, E307 Photocoy. P. 199.4. Echo, p. 2.5. Thurber, p. 290.6. Thurber, p. 290.7. Thurber, p. 291.8. Thurber, p.305.9. Burton Bernstein, Thurber: A Biography (Great Britain: Lowe & Brydone, 1975), p. 308.10. Echo, p. 2.