Insert Flap "A" and Throw Away by S. J. Perelman

S. J. Perelman is a man known for his humorous writing and contribution to the creation of many screenplays. He won an Academy Award, for best screenwriter, for his work on the film Around the World in 80 Days. His essay, Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away, details a man’s struggle and eventual nervous breakdowns while performing seemingly simple tasks. Initially, he tells of a breakdown he had in the late summer months, then he moves into telling a story of a breakdown he had while trying to assemble his children’s toy on Christmas. Perelman writes for everyone, to bring light to the realness of insanity and some doctors’ capitalization of it.

Perelman achieves his purpose well with the use of satire, humorous hyperboles, and even personification. After reluctance, the man in Perelman’s story tries to build the children’s toy, but with great trouble. He says, “... the only sentence I could comprehend, ‘Fold down on all lines marked ‘fold down’.” He shows the reader through humor that he actually is having difficulty following the simple instructions. Later when he asks his son for a knife to continue with the assembly, his son replies, “I dowanna … you always cut yourself at this stage.” Since the man made no indication that he was taking extra precaution, the son’s reply indicates his father’s insanity; he repeatedly makes the same mistake. After the man cuts himself, Perelman implements the use of the hyperbole, “I was in the bathroom grinding my teeth with agony”, to show the man’s exaggeration of not only simple tasks, but small cuts as well. Perelman even further exemplifies the man’s insanity with the man personifying the tab and slot of the toy by saying they were “thumbing their noses” at him. After, the man becomes hysterical and loses consciousness, and wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed with doctors hovering over him. He hears them say, “If we play our cards right , this ought to be a long, expensive recovery.” The doctors’ conversation reveals part of Perelman’s purpose in informing the audience of the corruption of some doctors who deliberately extend patients’ stays to pilfer more money.

A photo depicting a corrupt doctor pocketing money that doesn't rightfully belong to him. (From an article by James Salwitz on the Sunrise Grounds website)