Bring ’em Back Alive 389 naturedly satirize them as well.7 He utilizes the Wildean formula of exaggerating the trivial and trivializing the important in regard to his own comforts, expectations and abilities. Durrell sets himself up as the fall guy and depicts incidents with the humor of hindsight, such as in his slapstick account of his surprise at opening a box to have the rattlesnake inside strike out at him: I flung myself backwards in a leap that could only have been emulated but not bettered by a wallaby in the prime of life and in full control of its faculties. Unfortunately, I rather spoilt the athletic effect by tripping over my machete and sitting down heavily. (1956b: 170) The sardonic tone permeates his dialogues and descriptions of people as well as exaggerating what is embarrassing to him. He presents his actions (but not his goals) as a series of comic mishaps. Recounting events in retrospect affords both writers comic distance from what was likely fraught, frightening, or irritating at the time. V. Dealing with Animal Death Capture, unlike hunting, does not end with simply obtaining an animal body, but extends to include care for its wellbeing, and therefore its death is not a victory but a failure. While acknowledging the excitement of the chase, as well as the boredom of the routine cleaning and feeding many animals several times a day, both Buck and Durrell attest to great satisfaction in getting an animal safely to its new home. Confronted with inevitable animal sickness and death, Buck and Durrell do not mention the numbers of animals that die in the course of their expeditions, and instead 7 Writer-actor Ricky Gervais concurs with Fry’s assessment, “They [Americans] applaud ambition and openly reward success. Brits are more comfortable with life’s losers . . . . We use sarcasm as a shield and a weapon. We avoid sincerity until it’s absolutely necessary. We mercilessly take the piss out of people we like or dislike basically. And ourselves. This is very important. Our brashness and swagger is laden with equal portions of self-deprecation” (2011).
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