The Human Comedy

The Human Comedy

One of the topics theme related to the book, “The Human Comedy,” was how Saroyan described the Americans on Chap. 36, when Spangler and Diana Steed went to a picnic. They are Greeks, Serbs, Poles, Russians, Mexicans, Armenians, Germans, Negroes, Swedes, Spaniards, Basques, Portuguese, Italians, Jews, French, English, Scotch, and Irish. On Chap. 37, he described the soldier, Tobey George when he got to Ithaca it was his home that he miss so much since the War. “He got down on his knees and began to kiss the brick of the walk again and again, like a Moslem bowing to Mecca.” Chap. 25 Mr. Ara, the grocer store owner described between William Saroyan because, he would act and talk like would an Armenian would be like him.

Pg. 127, Saroyan described how Armenia was like in those ages. Russia was near his own country, beautiful little nation. Millions of people and children every day go hungry. People get cold, pathetic, barefooted, and walk around with no place to sleep and pray for a piece of dry bread, somewhere to lie down and rest just one night of peaceful sleep. Then describes how America is and its discontented how people in America have freedom and walk around with nobody in the streets with guns or to burn our houses and murder innocent people.

When Homer got his letter from Marcus on Pg. 167, Marcus misses Homer and thinks about him all the time. Marcus is fine and he didn’t believe in wars and knows they are foolish with stupidity but necessary important. He is proud to be proud as other soldiers are. When Marcus is in war, he can’t recognize any enemy that human can’t be his enemy only his friend. Although, the enemy his not with him which he wants to seek to destroy and kill the bad and foolishness. He doesn’t feel like a hero in war and no feelings about it. Has no hatred. Doesn’t feel patriotic but, he only love his country, the people, the towns, his home and Marcus’s family? Marcus wishes he wasn’t in the Army because, he is terrified in WW2. He only does what is right for him with his own trust in his heart. He doesn’t like the idea to be killed. More than anything else in the world he wants to come back to Ithaca to be with Mary Arena and have a family of his own. Marcus lets Homer have all his belongings he no longer wants them since he his drafted in the war.

On Pg. 108, Mr. Spangler believes he is going to marry Diana Steed. She always asks him, “You do love me, don’t you?” is related to Pg. 187, Homer exclaimed, “What’s a man supposed to do? I don’t know who to hate. I don’t know what to do. How does a man go on living? Who does he love? Who can you hate? Who‘s the enemy?” Only Spangler told him lies to guess related to Pg. 13, Ulysses meant what no man guess and no child can remember to tell.

Pg. 187, Mr. Spangler, “Well, I don’t think the enemy is people. If people hate one another, it is themselves they hate. A man cannot hate others but only himself. If a man hates himself, there is only one thing for him to do, leave his body, the world, and the people of the world. Your brother didn’t want to leave but he wanted to stay.” Pg. 13, Ulysses described the world back in the age of WW2 as strange, weed-infested, junky, wonderful, senseless yet beautiful world.

My Opinion to The Theme

“The Human Comedy” is a story describing about a war in the 1940s, “WW2“. The war is full of foolishness, the bad, and the good. Homer as a early teenager learned how to be a man from self-pity, anger-hatred, loving, busy-working messenger. He had a dream to be a superstar like Mr. Spangler to run in the twenty foot low-hurdles. To be Ithaca High Valley Champion. Ulysses was a young boy full of early wisdom and
knowledge. He was very curious into everything around him in the world. The story was related from William Saroyan about ancient Middle-East history, Ithaca First Presbyterian Church songs about our Lord God, how Ulysses had a dream about the bald man as a desert about the Shepherd in robes protecting the sheep kind as a lion and Big Chris imagining as Jesus Christ walking on water saving Ulysses drowning in the water by pulling and yanking him out of the lake. As to the big trap caught Ulysses in the store and Big Chris saved him by opening trying to break the trap to save him. The story has lot of courage and about being afraid or terrified. Cause of the war, Mrs. Macauley tells Marcus that the world is full of scared little children to every adult in the world. The Macauley brothers’ struggles from the war and the man would have working jobs to help the women of the family to have a roof over their head. Marcus dreams to be the fastest telegram messenger in the West like Mr. Grogan. But, Mr. Grogan fastest telegram operator, sends out death messages to give to Homer makes him have these human emotions of grief, sadness and depression and for the people who get these messages from Homer have these emotions too. Ulysses and Homer have many friends as they call themselves a gang because they come like a box of dozen eggs each different personality. Homer becomes the man in the world in the midst of war, appears sweet warmth-loving to give to show no fear in WW2, but shows livable living of being afraid and how people react to such socialism and humanism.