Satire Is a Type of 'humor [which] Exposes Ugly Human Phenomena (those That Render the World Almost Unbearable) to Mockery, in the Hope of Thereby Eliminating Them.' in Light of This View, Discuss the Use of Corrective Satire in the Rape of the Lock,

Satire is a type of 'Humor [which] exposes ugly human phenomena (those that render the world almost unbearable) to mockery, in the hope of thereby eliminating them.' In light of this view, discuss the use of corrective satire in The Rape of the Lock, Catch-22 and The Beggar's Opera.

Intro:

Professor Avner Ziv has defined satire as a type of 'Humor [which] exposes ugly human phenomena (those that render the world almost unbearable) to mockery, in the hope of thereby eliminating them.' Satires serve to use 'humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues' which applies to Gay's, Heller's, and Pope's texts. In them, these authors attempt to make social and political issues the 'object[s] of laughter [that the perpetrators] will take care in future not to repeat the behavior that has evoked punishment' ; the perpetrators may be corrupt politicians, the government as whole, the common man under capitalistic influences, or women condemned to have no freedom in society, conforming to their assigned norm.

Point 1: Capitalism/devaluation of humans for commodities - BO, Catch-22, TROTL

There is evidence of Gay, Heller and Pope all attempting to correctively satirise people's selfish and profiteering nature in capitalist societies in their texts. Within them, there is an exposition of how characters are willing to devalue one another, be it their family, friends or brethren in a gang to make their own profit and not taking others' feelings into consideration.

In Catch-22, society is controlled by capitalism and can be defined by the 'profit motive' . The profit motive is viewed by many, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement, as synonymous with greed: 'Behind the profit motive, there is the big G: greed.' From this, it can be said that a capitalistic attitude is a selfish and greedy attitude, (even if it seemed involuntary, as though selfish and greedy characters were manipulated by capitalism as an entity, they themselves not choosing to think capitalistic thoughts.) Barry Stewart Clark writes that, 'According to Marx, the accumulation of capital is the driving force shaping all other aspects of the social system.' This can be found in Catch-22 when looking at two members of both the higher and lower ranks in the American Air Force, Milo Minderbinder [and Colonel Cathcart - may not use his point yet], in their selfish pursuits for capital and self-profit, even at the risk of endangering the lives of the other characters. Clark continues, 'Marx argued that capital, rather than government or citizens, is the actual ruler of society. Capital dictates both public policy and individual behaviour.' This effect on human behaviour can be seen in Milo Minderbinder's selfish pursuit of profit over the value of the lives of the soldiers in his rank for his syndicate - 'M&M', standing for 'Milo & Minderbinder'. As the novel progresses, we witness Milo increasingly becoming a victim of capitalism through his desire to grow the syndicate. He first mentions it as, 'The syndicate I'd like to form someday so that I can give you men the good food you deserve.' Milo starts off as an honest mess officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps base, just wanting to please the men's stomachs, but soon 'seems to be the most ruthless and unscrupulous person in the novel, who bombs his own fellow soldiers to gain some profit' , as well as betraying his country to form alliances with others, such as Germany, to integrate them into the syndicate; he has to 'respect the sanctity of [his] contract with Germany' as they are not his 'enem[y]' , but 'members in good standing of the syndicate' for whom he must 'protect their rights as shareholders.'

Though Milo consistently insists that 'Everybody has a share' in the business of the syndicate, this proves to be false as he has no desire to share any profit with the others; the ampersand in 'M&M' is only there 'to nullify any impression that the syndicate was a one-man operation.' This shows that Milo is content with deceiving his 'friends', exploiting their sense of camaraderie to gain their support for the syndicate which he will then use to serve his own cause. ...

Milo's increasingly worsening actions link to the disintegrating structure of book as a whole:

Barron's Book Notes, Joseph Heller's Catch-22 By Rose Sallberg Kam, Barron's Educational Series, inc. (p.42)

Milo is mock representation of rich capitalist, Charles Erwin Wilson: Milo Minderbinder's maxim "What's good for M&M Enterprises is good for the country" alludes to former president of General Motors Charles Erwin Wilson's statement before the Senate "What's good for General Motors is good for the country."[7] (Conversations with Joseph Heller. Jackson, MO: University Press of Mississippi. p. 150) - attempts to correctively satirise idea that business should be allowed flourish through questionably moral or virtuous means for the country.

During the Eighteenth Century, Britain's landed aristocracy, such as the families in 'TROTL', and factory owners in rural areas were dependent on the working-class as the engine for of their capitalism. Due to class division, these two upper-class types/parties (should this be changed to avoid connotation with political parties) were the ruling class, owning all the power and wealth in Britain, leaving the working-class with nothing, struggling for work to stay alive. (Capitalism for self-profit but also for survival - Ayn Rand, but Leon Seltzer stated 'ruthlessly capitalistic commitments do not, and cannot, support life' evidenced by Macheath) But as this population was so high, it meant that the working-class could not get work easily. In 1715, London's population was around 630,000 and in 1725, three years before 'TBO' was written, it began to stagnate until 1750 when the population was 675,000. With such a high population and only so many jobs available, the factory owners

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