3. Is Humor an Effective Way to Cope With Life’s Hardest Moments?

[smkelly]

Bud uses humor to get through difficult conversations and situations, as well as sometimes using it as a method of deflection. This novel as a whole also deals with difficult topics using humor.

Do you believe that using humor is an effective way to deal with difficulty?

[JudyT]

It definitely can be. Humor can help you to process hard moments healthfully or, as mentioned, can be used to deflect tension, which is not necessarily unhealthy. Deflecting tension can be a very healthy thing to do as it can ease the stress of a situation. It’s only unhealthy if you avoid dealing with hard situations entirely, but a little deflection doesn’t hurt! One of my favorite instances of Bud’s humor when used to ease tension was when he was asked if his divorce was his idea and he said that it was absolutely his idea—as soon as he found out his wife was sleeping with someone else, he had the idea to divorce her! Lol!

[sunnyMalicious]

A favorite quote from Ken Kesey: "Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy … but he won't let the pain blot out the humor no more'n he'll let the humor blot out the pain.”

And from Stranger in a Strange Land: “ I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much . . . because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting.”