Trailokya Nath Parida1 & Itishri Sarangi2
1Lecturer in English, KISS/KIIT University. Email: trailokyanath.mitu@gmail.com
2Assistant Professor, KIIT University
Volume 9, Number 2, 2017 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.38
Received May 10, 2017; Revised July 24, 2017; Accepted July 30, 2017; Published August 23, 2017.
Abstract
Humour is the heart of literature that provokes laughter and provides amusement. As the main ingredient, humour intends to induce enjoyment, breaks the dullness, boredom, tiresomeness and makes the audience’s nerves relaxed. George Meredith (1828-1909) in his Essay on Comedy and the Uses of Comic Spirit (1877) considers as the excellent test of the civilization of a country to be “the flourishing of comic idea and comedy” and it is of the true comedy that “it shall awaken thoughtful laughter” (Meredith 140). David Lubar an author of humorous books rightly remarks that “Humor brings pleasure, eases pain and makes the world a better place.” People of all ages respond to humour and satire. “The satirist presupposes an educated readership which will easily be able to discover the implicit morality without any help other than a few ironic hints from the writer.” In fact they are short in supply. This paper aims at exploring Chetan Bhagat’s Half Girlfriend in terms of its tone of humour and satire. In almost all his fictions, Chetan Bhagat has captured his deep concern about the adolescence in a comic and satiric way. Mark Taiwan (1835-1910), a great humorist, entrepreneur and publisher rightly remarks that “Humour is mankind’s greatest blessing.” He also satirizes the so called beliefs and traditions of the society. Bhagat’s present fiction Half Girlfriend sets the story of how Madhav Jha from backward Bihar is in pursuit of winning over the girl that he likes. Throughout the novel, the author has given the utmost attempt to create laughter among the readers. In fact it’s true that through humorous descriptions, Bhagat has shaped many Indians to develop reading habits.
Keywords: Humour, Satire Fiction, Love, Marriage, Girlfriend
