Guobin Li

Guobin Li
 

Christopher Moore uses for his humor stereotypes of male and female behavior. Please explain.

 

In the novel "You Suck", Tommy is portrayed as a typical absent-minded, immature, horny nineteen-year-old. On the other hand, his girlfriend Jody is a sarcastic, manipulative girl.

 

Tommy has necrophilia and fantasizes about cheerleaders. He is in love with the dead body- Jody and decides to bronze her because he does not want her to run away. He drills an earhole in the sculpture, which enables Jody to get herself out of the bronze and kill him.

 

When Tommy condemns Jody for killing him, she confronts him with the fact that he had sex with a dead body. He comes up with an ignorant rationalization; He says: "I was just being friendly, like when you put a quarter in someone else's parking meter when they aren't there-you know they appreciate it later, even if they don't thank you personally." Tommy calls sex a friendly act whereas Jody feels she was used which is typical of some boys and girls to react after having sex. Then Tommy goes on to call Jody a dead foul thing. Jody, as manipulative as she is, feels relieved to hear the things Tommy say. Christopher Moore adds a sentence to the scene. "Damn, she should have pretended to cry." He uses the cunning behaviors of mean girls here for his humor.

 

Tommy likes to use words like "miasma" just to pretend he is smart. When Jody tells him he will always be the same. He says a few things that distinctly show his ignorance and immaturity. "But I was going to start working out tomorrow. I was going to be buff. I was going to have abs of steel." There is a scene in which he flexes his chest in the mirror. He is obsessed with the way he looks, especially with his muscles. It is something that a lot of boys do. Further Christopher Moore shows Tommy's confusion. "What about the writer thing? Will my brain always be like this? I mean, will I get any smarter, or is that stuck in time, too?" Tommy reminds the readers of a typical confused teenager.

 

In the scene in which Tommy finds out his foreskin has grown back, he becomes furious and calls himself "a radioactive mutant freak". He wonders if Jody would find it creepy. When Jody says she is ok with it, he wants her to touch his penis. He says: "You're sure you don't want to give it a quick fondle?" Tommy just sounds like a horny teenager who always wants to indulge in sexual pleasures, which again is a clear stereotype of teenage boys.

 

Jody knows what she can do to get what she wants; she sniffles for effect. She lures Tommy by asking him if he wants to see her naked body. She kisses Tommy's neck when she feels like she is in control.

 

These distinctive and entertaining behaviors of males and females become laughing stocks in his novel.