Midterm Performance Task: Analysis of “Disease is No Laughing Matter”

The story “Disease is No Laughing Matter” is a flash fiction written by Brenna R. Singman.
Singman has a particular style in writing and developing the structure and contentment of her stories. She
brings out the points in a creative way and in, somehow, a mind game.
The story is categorized under Prose. This is shown through the story’s structure. Structurally
speaking, prose is defined as a division of literature which covers a literary work that is spoken or written
within the common flow of language in sentences and in paragraphs which gives information, relate
events, express ideas, or present opinions (Salirickandres, 2017). Specifically, the story is under Fiction, a
subdivision of prose. Indeed, the story “Disease is No Laughing Matter” is written in sentences and
paragraphs which express ideas based on the truth about life itself.
In this story, the literary theme is shown as a natural catastrophe, where the characters are facing
a disease outbreak. This is shown by how Stuart is extra careful in touching anything suspicious since
they might be contaminated. Also, from the statement, “He knew he wasn't ill, but more than once he had
to run when others thought his wit was really the disease talking," and from what Dennis said, “Are. You.
Sick.” The reader may conclude that there is indeed an unnamed disease circulating their place. It is seen
how the disease outbreak drastically affected the lives of the humans. The story proves the ability of
humans to survive disease outbreaks, like how Stuart carefully fought and avoided being infected, and
how the group of Dennis made a hideout for themselves and the other survivors.
One literary technique used here is imagery. Imagery is used in the story to represent the
adversity the characters experienced. The languages, “dark stain” and “shaved in half or crumbled into
rubble” are examples of visual images in the story that show the setting of the story in which the major
character must choose to survive. Another literary technique used is irony. The title of the story “Disease
is No Laughing Matter” makes the story seem serious, however, the personality and situation of the main
character who loves to make puns even when facing serious situations, like the disease outbreak, makes
the story ironic. An example is when he said “puntaminated” instead of “contaminated”.
The literary elements in the story are the character, conflict, setting, point of view, plot, plot
theme, and symbolism. The main character, Stuart, is characterized as carrying the disease, which is
proven by the way he speaks, shown by the graphological stylistic devices used for example, “brie-the”,
“woo-rse”, and “Am I--am I” which prove that the character experiences stuttering caused by the disease
(unnamed disease), shown also by the character’s expression such as “puntaminated” (for contaminated),
a pun used by the author to emphasize Stuart’s condition.
The conflict seen in the story is man versus nature since they are fighting for their survival
against a disease outbreak. Another is man versus himself. This may be seen when Stuart fought himself
not to bring out his true self in front of Dennis when he was asked if he was sick and he was supposed to
answer but then decided not to continue what he was about to say when his wife shook her head, instead
he said, “What I mean is, no. I'm not sick. I avoided it like the--uh, UN like so many unfortunately people
I came across. I'm just looking for shelter and my family."
The setting is a war-torn area described by the statements: “The city had poorly stood the test of
time. High rises were shaved in half or crumbled into rubble. Stuart passed some old haunts. His favorite
pizzeria was now ash mixed with disturbing stickiness,” “He passed through Carriage Park, now with
cratered fields and its wilted botanical garden. On the other side of the warzone,” and “He stopped at the
glass front doors, wiped away some built up dust, and peered inside. The old coffee tables and chairs in
the foyer area were gone. The walls were chipped, but had clearly withstood the beating of shock waves
and bursts. The rotund reception desk looked tilted as if someone tried to drag it and gave up halfway
against its bulk. Some broken equipment still sat on the tabletop. On the floor beside the desk were the
scraps of his old punch clock that used to flash Dell, Stuart 8:59 am every morning.” These statements
gave off a gloomy mood to the readers, showing how gloomy and sad these events are.
For the point of view, the story is told in Third-Person Limited point of view since it used the
pronouns “he,” “she,” and “it”. The narrator was able to see into the mind of Stuart, this was shown in the
statement: “Images filled in his memory of that street, memories of where signs would tell him he was on
the right route to work, where he'd wooed the woman of his dreams with some of his best material.”
However, the perspective of the narrator is only limited to one person, which is Stuart.
The plot of the story starts with the exposition where Stuart was introduced as a witty man trying
to survive the disease outbreak happening in the city, this part is where the main character and the conflict
is introduced. The rising action of the story is when Stuart was heading to his workplace and saw it all
trashed, and when he saw something move, this part is now leading to the climax since the tension is now
starting. The climax occurred when Stuart saw that Hannah was the “something” that moved, and when
Dennis interrogated him. The denouement or falling action is when Stuart got accepted inside the hideout,
this part is where the action subsides. The resolution is when Stuart was led inside the hideout by his wife.
The plot theme is indirectly expressed in the last statement of the story, “If he wanted to stay with
his wife, if he wanted to survive, it was the only way.” This has something to do with man’s choice or
decision in life in the face of adversity. The theme of the story could be stated as "Man’s choice in life in
the face of adversity is dictated by the world around him." Generally, the surrounding of Stuart is
dangerous, including the hideout. While the outside is dangerous due to the disease outbreak, the hideout
is dangerous for the infected ones since the people there are being extra careful in letting people in, as
seen with how Dennis reacted to Stuart’s appearance. If the people in the hideout discover that one is
infected, they might kill him or her, basing on the behavior of Dennis. Stuart chose to go to the hideout
and join his wife even when he is in danger.
For the symbolism in the story, the hideout may symbolize the society where Stuart is struggling
to fit in. The line, “more than once he had to run when others thought his wit was really the disease
talking,” shows that he was often shunned by others for being him, and he often ran away from it. This
also shows that he was discriminated. Then when he saw a chance to be part of a society, he grabbed it by
hiding his true self. The hideout serves as a place where Stuart could redeem himself by hiding his true
self. In the story he was accepted there when he did not reveal his real condition.
The literary approach used to analyze this story was Psychological criticism. Psychological
criticism explains the behaviors of the characters within the story. By analyzing the behaviors, actions,
their emotions, and thinking of Stuart and the other characters, we were able to see the author’s message.
An example is the longing of Stuart of the life he had before and of his family, which is evident from the
line, “Images filled in his memory of that street, memories of where signs would tell him he was on the
right route to work, where he'd wooed the woman of his dreams with some of his best material.” Another
is the confusion of Stuart whether he was infected of not, which is seen in the following lines: “He knew
he wasn't ill, but more than once he had to run when others thought his wit was really the disease talking,”
“Sometimes he had to question how much of his cleverness was his own and how much could be a sign
that he had gotten careless over his years of survival, but the symptoms always came on pretty fast if one
got infected.” He is also struggling to survive, and he used his puns as his coping mechanism, this may be
seen when he was dodging a dark stain on the brick when anything could be “puntaminated,” according to
him. Another example is when he was reminiscing wooing the woman of his dreams and saying, “But
she's probably long gone now. For better or for woo-rse." On the other hand, Hannah and the others
represent the general emotion of residents when facing a disease outbreak, the fear of being infected, the
need to be meticulous, and the survival instinct that Dennis have shown.
“Disease is No Laughing Matter” is a fiction, specifically flash fiction, which has a beginning,
middle and end. It is a short story with literary elements, like the characters, setting, plot, theme, and
conflict. Flash fictions can be as short as six words and as long as around 1,000 words. In the case of
“Disease is No Laughing Matter”, it contains 1,005 words. Flash fictions should be read slowly, not
skipping a word, since it may change the meaning of the whole once there are skipped words. Flash
fictions are written in artistic ways, like how Singman creatively wrote the story. Since it is written this
way, readers should carefully analyze what is happening and what messages the story is trying to bring
out. Flash fictions have more to reveal than what is told.