Sedaris' hyperbolism in "The incomplete Quad"

 

When I began reading David Sedaris’ collection of essays in The Best of Me, I was turned off by the apparent smugness that came through the narrator. Even though it is apparent through his over-the-top hyperbolic style and tone, I left feeling unamused and a bit disgusted. Plainly, I felt as though the themes and motifs that Sedaris incorporates into these short anecdotes were muddled by the writer’s constant proclivity towards the antithetical virtues of a naive narrator. That being said, there is one particular essay that I did admire for its succinct message. In “The Incomplete Quad”, I was struck by the selfishness of the narrator and his inability to understand the nature of kindness. Sedaris weaves his narrative through his time at Kent State University where he took care of a paraplegic named Peg with Muscular Dystrophy. Throughout the short essay, Sedaris recalls the delinquent activities Peg and him engaged in from shoplifting to hitchhiking home to North Carolina from Ohio. Throughout these chronicles of adventures, Sedaris conspicuously reminds the audience that his good deeds are not because they are the right thing to do, but because he is willing and wanting to take advantage of the position Peg is in for his own gain and not because he has a genuine will to help Peg as she suffers through life necessitating a chaperone. This essay is one instance where Sedaris’ over-the-top hyperbole contributes well to the theme of the essay because it is reinforced throughout their encounters while hitchhiking and in the company of the narrator’s family, unbeknownst to the reader, that kindness and generosity will be the message proffered at the tales end. Sedaris uses himself as a model of what-not-to-be as a means to elucidate the error in his ways. As a mirror for the morals and ethics he attempts to espouse, Sedaris allows the reader to indulge in the missteps and obnoxious characteristics of his younger self to deflect the poignant criticisms he makes from potentially being strewn as directed towards his audience while also being able to show change and a growth in understanding from his youth.

Furthermore, this message remains in between the lines and for the audience to recognize from the narrator’s actions until Peg’s religious transformation. When Sedaris reveals that Peg has had a change of heart and understanding of her past actions, he elucidates the morals he is placing on a pedestal throughout the essay: people are not necessarily foolish as much as they are kind. I enjoyed how Sedaris brought this essay together because as his younger self represents the antithetical ideas he espouses now, he is able to show himself as the unkind fool who took advantage of the kindness of others for selfish gains.