YOUR MOTHER!

that's the only "joke" I can think of now. sorry.

question three at the end of this story asks about the use of jokes and the importance to the characterization of Zoë.

Zoë, to put it as plainly as possible is eccentric. just matter-of-factly eccentric. I think the fact that she cracks jokes all the time builds (or rather, shields) her character quite nicely. realistically, too. she's suuper sarcastic with everything. I believe that when people go through personality analysis by a psychiatrist, they are told that the frequent use of sarcasm is a way of shielding oneself. I think this definitely fits Zoë, to an extent. even when others are trying to be serious (like about getting married), she can't help but come back with some smart-alecky response. in addition to suggesting that she doesn't like letting people in, it accentuates her lack of seriousness. she feels like life is too short to be worrying about stuff all the time. her constant joking shows that.

I hate stories that start with "Once Upon A Time"

I really do.

I really really love the satire and sarcasm used in this story. I absolutely LOVE the passive-aggressive "I don't think I ought to do anything, too. that's so me...

the author is asked to write a children's story. because she "ought" to. so, she writes a story. it has a child IN it. it begins with "Once upon a time there was a perfect family blahblahblah..." and ends with "...and they all lived happily ever after", so it MUST be a children's story, right? and it has a moral too, right? I mean, the more you try to prevent something, the more likely it is to happen, or something like that.... I want to say it's Murphy's Law, but that's slightly different, I think.

and again we get the infamous word choice making everything oh-so-much-more pleasant. at the end of the story, the boy gets attacked by razor wire. but does he die? let's find out... they carry "it". yup. he's dead alright. just a corpse, a measly "it" now.