Let's apply one of the terms from Pope (characterization, comedy, tragedy, pastoral, carnival) to episodes 3 or 4.
How does one of the terms add meaning to the text?
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Introduction to English Studies
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My term for these episodes is tragedy. A lot is changing within the world of S Town and it's mostly surrounding John's suicide which has loomed over the story and our narrator since episode 2. As we learn and uncover more about the town and about John we understand deeper the reasoning behind his suicide. His inability to handle the situations that life has dealt him such as his sexual orientation,the town he comes from that doesn't accept him for who he is, the racism that he witnesses everyday. It's feeling more and more like John was kind of pushed towards his suicide.
A sense of tragedy lingers throughout S-Town post-John's suicide. As we lost our biggest emotional connection to the town, we see its ultimately tragic baggage it puts on its residents. It is a town defined by its own repulsion, how it is decorated in filth and how it is rotting from the inside out. John was simply a by-product of that environment made ultimately more tragic as S-Town could have provided him a platform to get away from it.
The term tragedy and characterization both resemble many aspects of S-Town. John B's death was a tragedy at the end of episode two. His depression and lack of communication with the world around him cause this to happen. Characterization has a lot to do with S-Town. John B is unlike no other character in this podcast and that makes him unique. Him and Brian Reed share many characteristics like no other in these episodes.
Examining the themes of characterization throughout S Town can be helpful to us in understanding different aspects of John B.'s personality. When studying John based on his own presentation of himself, he is a very dynamic and round literary figure. In comparison to his neighbors he is well-read, thoughtful, and concerned with current events. Even the way he talks is captivating. We see the effects of his ability to gain an audience's interest when Brian Reed decides to get involved in John B.'s story. However, the way in which Brian Reed chooses to present John B. throughout S Town causes him to appear more flat. He is almost minimized to being a depressed, eccentric Alabama boy, which does not do…
The most tragic parts of episode 3 are all of the scenes with the cousins, John B.'s funeral included. Like Brian says - all of his property going to the cousins instead of Tyler and Jake is the opposite of what he would have wanted! What makes it really tragic, also, is that it could have been prevented if John had made a will. It would have been relatively simple for him to write Tyler in as is heir, but he didn't. Did he not make a will because he wasn't sure he was going to actually kill himself until he was actually doing it? With everything he'd done to help Tyler and his business, and the stray dogs on…