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Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town

 

    It takes a certain type of character to see the humour in everyday life.

It takes an even greater character to express the humour in ways that other

people can appreciate and subsequently find gaiety therein. Stephen Leacock

is such a character, and his compilation of short stories Sunshine Sketches

of a Little Town recognizes, and assists the reader to recognize, one's

need to laugh at their surroundings, their culture, and the people that

interact in their lives.

 

    Leacock is known for his profound ironic and satirical wit but, in the

case of Sunshine Sketches, he offers aspects of tragic irony and sagacious

insight with regards to everyday, small-town life as well, which serves to

further enhance the value of his humour.

 

    Just as Leacock was interested in the techniques of humor, he was

interested in the language of humor. Besides the careful selection of

language, said Leacock, humor demanded a "great naturalness" of language,

the use of phrases and forms so simple that writers straining after effect

would never get them. [Critics] felt that one of the main reasons for

Leacock's success was that his style was that of "a talker rather than a

writer". Another said..."He talked to the world. And the talk was good."

(Curry. p.242-243)

 

    Satire is defined as a genre in which the author attacks some object,

using his means of wit or humour that is either fantastic or absurd. In the

case of Sunshine Sketches, Leacock's target is a fictitious small town in

southern Ontario, which could be, and often is, compared to all other small

towns across the country. Leacock immerses the reader amidst a collection

of ordinary characters who become extraordinary due to Leacock's grasp of

the comedy within human nature and the scope of small-town culture and

tradition.

 

    By utilizing elements of both comic and tragic irony, which by

definition suggest varying divisions between words or events and their

contexts, Leacock not only creates a humorous environment for his

characters, but also one in which the reader may laugh at situations and

idiosyncrasies which are strikingly similar to their own. Events such as

the sinking of the Mariposa Belle in six feet of water and the subsequent

rescue attempts by Mariposans, the comedic courting rituals of the

extremely shy Peter Pupkin, and the inane attempts to raise money on behalf

of the church are all examples of these sharp, ironic situations.

 

    To understand the irony in any work, one must first appreciate the

context of such a work. With regards to Sunshine Sketches, the town of

Mariposa resembles any other town of its day; a place where everybody knows

everybody, and the distinctness of character is very apparent among the

citizens. The events are simplistic and possess an unstated air of

politeness and manners that couldn't be found in larger cities. What the

reader is exposed to is a good-natured, well-intentioned group of people

who simply live Murphy's Law; that what can go wrong, surely will, and

definitely does. Leacock adds the satirical and ironic twists to each

storyline which enlightens the otherwise mundane happenings in the

community. The ideas that those on the sinking ship eventually save the

rescuers, or that all fund raising contributions are conditional on non-

existent actual donations, or that the community's illiterate hotel owner

is elected into political office by way of trickery and manipulation, are

all representations of these twists.

 

    The context of all irony lies in the knowledge of comparison. Leacock

himself said:

 

        Comparison is the very soul of humor...It is the discovery of

        resemblance and the lack of it that builds up the contrasts,

        discrepancies, and incongruities on which...humor depends.

        (Curry. p.244)

 

    If something that is well understood to suggest one thing, is suddenly

used to suggest something completely different, the result can often be

hilarious; such is the case with Sunshine Sketches.       The first story

introduces the reader to Josh Smith, but more important, this story creates

the framework within which the ridiculous happenings of Mariposa will take

place. The context and the nature of the town and those who run it is

established very early as the notion of population is discussed:

 

        ...the Canadian census puts the numbers every time at something

        round five thousand. But it is generally understood in Mariposa

        that the census is largely the outcome of malicious jealousy.

        It is usual that after the census the editor of the Mariposa

        Newspacket makes a careful re-estimate (based on the data of

        relative non-payment of subscriptions), and brings the population

        up to 6,000. After that...Mr. Gingham, the undertaker,...makes

        an estimate from the number of what he calls the "demised" as

        compared with the less interesting persons who are still alive,

        and brings the population to 7,000. After that somebody else

        works it out that it's 7,500; then the man behind the bar...

        offers to bet the whole room that there are 9,000...and the

        population is well on the way to 10,000, when down swoops the

        federal census taker...and the town has to begin all over again.

        (Leacock. p.16)

 

    This is just one example of the way the town of Mariposa operates. Of

course, one would expect the compilation of statistics such as population

to be handled professionally, however, it is apparent that such is not the

case. Rather, the citizens of Mariposa take the liberty to embellish such

information in a snowball effect that continues to grow close to absurdity

before it is averted by the proper authorities.

 

    Each individual misadventure that Mariposans encounter bear significant

similarities to one another, for example, the "Whirlwind Campaign"

immediately comes to mind in terms of statistical blunders. The idea was to

raise money for the local church which was struggling with debt because Rev.

Drone knew nothing of keeping the books, and after a bout of remodelling,

was in financial trouble. To raise this money the citizens of Mariposa

campaigned other citizens, (which is ironic in itself because everybody was

in on the campaign so there were only tourists and passers-by to solicit).

Everyone offered donations conditional on the fund reaching a particular

milestone. Of course, with no real contributions, none of the conditional

donations were honoured either, leaving Mariposa and the church in worse

shape than it started out due to the expense of the campaign itself. "The

real trouble about the Whirlwind Campaign was that [Mariposans] never

clearly understood which of them were the whirlwind and who were to be the

campaign." (Leacock. p.96)

 

    The irony of this event is obvious. The excitement that it generated

within the community was positive, but the campaign was a complete failure,

and not at all what one would expect when a town pulls itself together for

a specific cause.

 

    With regards to the aforementioned church, the campaign wasn't its only

significance in the book. The Rev. Drone couldn't manage the money

necessary to keep the church going and was soon at his wits end in terms of

what to do about the debt. It eventually came down to Josh Smith burning it

down one night in order to collect its outrageously high insurance policy,

which consequently was a large enough sum to erase everyone's financial

troubles.

 

        The insurance people might protest as they liked. The straight,

        plain fact was that the church was insured for about twice the

        whole amount of the cost and the debt and the rector's salary

        and the boarding school fees of the littlest of the Drones all

        put together. (Leacock. p.106)

 

    This is perhaps the most ironic of all the twists in Sunshine Sketches,

as it marks such a reversal of fortune. It is almost impossible to believe

that a fire of such magnitude would be a blessing but, that is exactly the

way things turned out.

 

    A small note of irony that also involves the above episode concerns the

insurance claim and subsequent legal proceedings.

 

        Protest from the insurance people? Legal proceedings to

        prevent payment? My dear sir! I see you know nothing about

        the Mariposa court...Judge Pepperleigh disposed of the case

        and dismissed the protest of the company in less than

        fifteen minutes!...Pepperleigh even threatened the plaintiffs

        with the penitentiary, or worse. (Leacock. p.107)

 

    The humour here is based simply on one's perception of justice. This

ruling could very well be considered a conspiracy, but taken in the

humorous context of the book, it seems that, although Mariposans were

unable to support the church legitimately, they used the means necessary to

eventually, albeit illegally, back their fellow citizens in time of need.

 

    Another area of the book that receives satirical and ironic attention

is the courtship of Zena Pepperleigh by Mr. Pupkin. It is established that

Pupkin is extraordinarily shy, and in the presence of the attractive Zena

that shyness is compounded to the point where Pupkin "rode fifteen miles to

pass [her] house twice, and even then it took all the nerve that he had."

(Leacock. p.124)

 

    The entire romance of Pupkin and Pepperleigh is humorous because it

doesn't go beyond physical attraction. The relations between Pupkin and the

whole Pepperleigh family are embellished over the course of three short

stories, yet the attraction and interaction is never explored beyond the

physical element. It seems to be a long-winded superficial relationship,

that ironically results in a wedding of the two parties. (Leacock. p.150)

 

    There are many more examples of Leacock's irony, both comic and tragic,

depending on one's perspective within Sunshine Sketches, but the

significant ones have been examined and the rest is up to the individual.

There still remains the story of Jefferson Thorpe, the barber who went from

rags to riches, back to rags in a matter of moments, and the further

misadventures of Josh Smith who, in a cleverly run, yet shamelessly rigged

political campaign, gets elected into office on behalf of the Conservative

Party.

 

    The final story of Sunshine Sketches titled L'Envoi. The Train to

Mariposa is a departure from the preceding satire. It effectively ties the

book together by offering a retrospective approach to the small-town. It

fondly recalls the idiosyncrasies that make every small town across the

country something that can be remembered with admiration. It suggests the

feelings that everyone experiences when they leave the small-town

atmosphere in search of bigger and better things, only to recall a

childhood when the times and the people were less complicated. The ironic

quirks that are often the root of fond memories exist, and are emphasized

by Leacock as he finalizes his compilation. He still jabs at small-town

life from a distance, but it is no less effective than were he to stand in

the middle of main street in downtown Mariposa.

 

    Perhaps the greatest irony in each story is that they are based around

events which seem serious, yet evolve into something quite ridiculous.

Without the wit and style that Stephen Leacock presents in Sunshine

Sketches, the book would simply be a collection of mundane, out-of-date,

cultural snippets of rural Canadian life. The humour helps the compilation

to transcend the mundane and become a piece of literature that is as

profound and applicable to society today as it was almost a century ago.

Humour adds interest to anything, and in this case, what would otherwise

amount to a history lesson, becomes a hysterical trip down memory lane, a

look at the past, and perhaps even a look at the present condition of

small-town Canada.