Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away by S.J Perelman

Celebrated author, S. J. Perelman is one of the most defining humorists in American literature and film. Often featured in The New Yorker, Perelman published numerous satirical essays during the chaotic war-torn 1940’s, one of them being Insert Flap A and Throw Away. Perfecting capturing the frustration every adult faces when trying to put furniture together, the essay follows the turbulent and seemingly ridiculous struggle a grown faces as he tries to assemble a simple child toy- a ‘Self Running 10 Inch Scale Model Delivery Kit’.
Throughout the essay, Perelman adopted a sarcastic tone as a way to mock the situation. While he builds a shelf, he describes it as, “ procurable at any department superstore or neighborhood insane asylum (Perelman, 186.)” Later, as he attempts to build a train, he goes on to tell the reader the greatly exaggerated process he faced. “The theory of the kit was simplicity itself, easily intelligible to Jettering of General Motors, Professor Millikan, or any first rate physicist (Perelman, 187.)”
In his use of humor, Perelman often incorporates wit as a way to tie everything together and show the fathers devolving. As the father begins getting more and more frustrated about the children’s toy, he begins devolving to the point where he destroys the toy. Despite his erratic behavior, he refers to his kids as “monomaniacs (Perelman 189)” and continues smashing the train. Another example is in the end, when the father wakes up in mental institution. The doctor tells the wife to get him, “a nice soothing picture puzzle- or something he can do with his hands (Perelman, 189.)” This use of wit ironically wraps the story up, since it was the process of working with his hands that initiated the panic attack in the first place. It can be said without a doubt that the use of tone and wit allows the essay to become bother entertaining and relatable. As a result of both, Perelman transforms this typically mundane task into an entertaining battle of wills- making it relevant for years to come.

Sarcasam was alive and well in the 20th century.

Sources

Text- Oates, Joyce Carol, and Robert Atwan. The Best American Essays of the Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.

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