Abstract

Studies on the effects of humor and laughter focus primarily on the positive effects that humor and laughter can have on the psychological aspect of human life. However, Manu Bhattathiri’s novels point to the fact that laughter can also be a form of bullying and the fear of laughter can have pernicious effects on the individual. Bhattathiri’s novels are unique as they are both humorous, but, at the same time, they reveal the malice that characterizes a lot of different types of laughter. The belief that appears to pervade his novels is that laughter is predominantly bitter and that not all laughter or all humor comes from or leads to joy. This article is an attempt to study how Bhattathiri treats the theme of laughter. He recognizes how laughter can be used for social bonding, but more importantly, how it can exist at the expense of vulnerable individuals. The two novels of Bhattathiri, The Town That Laughed and The Oracle of Karuthupuzha, will be analyzed thematically using the superiority theory of humor. The superiority of humor states that laughter is a result of the realization that the laugher is in some way superior to the person that is being laughed at. The study leads to an understanding of how malicious laughter and humor can be detrimental to an individual as it preys on the weak.