Black Humor

Friedman himself is credited with coining the term black humor, which has evolved into a genre in which most of his fiction works are categorized. That said, however, most acknowledge that this is an ambiguous genre. Even Friedman refuses to clarify what a black comedy does or should contain. Still, black comedies share at least a few similar characteristics. They generally take place in a modern setting, like the New York setting in the story. The settings of many black comedies also have nightmarish qualities. The only such setting in the story is the African conflict in Brazzaville, which is not given much prominence, at least on the surface. Black comedies often feature frustrated attempts at communication, like Gunther's attempts to speak to his father in the story. Often, black comedies feature predicaments that are absurd, like Gunther's plan to save his father by having his boss...