Abstract

The argument behind this paper is to show how contemporary American fiction writer , Lorrie Moore, use humor as a subversive tool, a way of confronting tragedy and a vehicle to critique various psychological, social, and political issues about women’s lives. As a narrative device, humor has enabled Moore to challenge the limits of realism by using irony, satire, and the grotesque to mock traditional notions of linear plot, closure, narrative omniscience, and reliable interpretation. The paper seeks to demonstrate that the discourse of humor in her fiction is used to gain power. Language is power and this writer deploys language in novel, unexpected, and even unconventional ways.