Mark Twain, Lenny Bruce, and Kurt Vonnegut: The comedian as confidence man

摘要

This thesis attempts to establish three American comedians andudsocial critics as confidence men whose artistic manipulations allow themudto issue warning and criticism under the guise of humourousudentertainment. Without suggesting that all comedy is a game ofudconfidence, I try to show that the demands placed on these comic artistsudby their society have necessitated that their responses, at least, mustudbe effected through deception; hence their designation as confidence men.udI first describe in the introduction the American society as a cultureudwhich has historically favoured successful confidence men, artistic andudotherwise. I then place the comedian in the context of a confidenceudgame, showing that some of the earliest forms, of comedy have effected theudunification of pain and pleasure through deception and manipulations ofudbelief, paying special attention to the earliest comedian, the aboriginaludTrickster, as well as his descendants in classical theatre and mythology,udlater European Lore, and American comedy up to the time of Mark Twain,udwith particular reference to Melville. Then follow the individualudanalyses of three American comedians: the first addresses theudmanipulations of the alternately willing and unwilling confidence man,udMark Twain, as evidenced in Huckleberry Finn, Pudd'nhead Wilson, and theudbiography of Samuel Clemens; the second deals with the aborted career ofudLenny Bruce, who seemingly despaired outright of maintaining a comedicudgame of confidence; and the third depicts Kurt Vonnegut as a comedian ofudmany deceptions, as revealed especially in Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfastudof Champions, and Jailbird. The conclusion then briefly poses someudquestions about the society that demands the success of confidence games,udand the artists who must perpetrate them.