On Franzen's "Comfort Zone"

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I didn't much like "The Comfort Zone" upon initial reading. However, I REALLY liked it after I read it a couple times. I'm not sure exactly why that is the case. I guess it may partially be that it's a rather complex story and it takes a few readings to really appreciate all the different aspects.

My favorite aspect? Definitely the humor. We had to discuss this story in another class I'm in and most of the class said that they didn't like it because it was too dark and not funny. They commented that they liked this Sedaris story more because even though it was a sort of dark subject, he used humor to retell it. I, however, thought Franzen's piece was quite funy in some regards.



One of my favorite parts was the one about Chris Toczko and the spelling bee. One line in particular stood out: "Toczko was annoyingunaware that I, not he, by natural right, was the best student in the class." I guess I can't quite articulate why I love this line, but I really do. I suppose it might just be my sense of humor. I can certainly relate to that line, for one. There's almost always those one or two people who are annoying unaware that they are inferior to you in some way or another. At the same time, it's a ridiculous line. It's a ridiculous thought and Franzen both admits that he thought it, but also throws in a splash of what I take to be sarcasm to also admit that it is ridiculous (even if he really IS the best student in the class and Chris Toczko really SHOULD know that.)



We've all been there, right?



Or is it just me? And him?