“Anything helps” by Jess Walter: No it Does Not
This is a sad and gloom short story by Jess Walter, filled with irony. It fits perfectly well into the author’s famous collection of short fiction that is called “We Live in Water”. The story of a homeless man who tries really hard and even goes to the cardboard to afford to buy his son, who, by the way, is adopted by other people, a new Harry Potter book finds its place in the world of lost fathers and redemptive con men. The idea that failure is never really over, even after long and complicated moral mortal is vividly represented in this particular short story by the talented author.
Bit as a Typical Character
The main character of this short story is a poor man who tries to raise money to buy his son a good present. The very name of the character has a rather symbolic meaning. It is Bit and it sounds like beaten.
The immediate association the reader may have is that this character is beaten by fate, defeated by life. And some people might think so, but this character has all the aspirations and goals an average person should have for a productive life. Bit is just down in his luck. He has clearly got some serious problems with drinking. But this is not an unusual thing for homeless people, who live on the margins of the society. This character, actually, represents a typical citizen “living within the cultural underbelly of America” (Farnsworth).
Irony in “Anything Helps”
One can find ironic motives at all the textual levels. To my mind, there is a dramatic irony in the whole situation described in the text. The underprivileged man puts all his efforts together in order to buy a thing that is not essential for living and serves rather for cultural purposes to his son, whom he loves. The goal is, of course, very good, but the way in which it is supposed to be achieved is doubtful. This is also ironic. It is directly stated in the text that this character is doing something atypical for him. When the man who said he is ready to give Bit the needed sum of money asks him how he will spend this money, he does not believe that Bit is going to buy a book: “No. Tell me exactly what you’re going to drink or smoke or whatever, and I’ll give you twenty” (Amazon.com, p. 3).From the very title the reader might guess that everything should be fine, because it sounds quite optimistic “Anything Helps”. But, as it, eventually, turns out, the son rejects his fathers’ present. There is some irony as well in the contradiction between the reader’s expectations, namely the stated above textual hint, and the outcome of the story.
The text is also filled with what is called verbal irony (Literary Devices). The name of the cupboard Bit goes to earn money is ironic: “Jesus …
