After spending some time reading Three Men in a Boat by Jerome, Jerome K, we were graced with a lot of humorous anecdotes that our narrator, J, recounts throughout his boating journey with his friends. When he encounters a monument or a situation that matches his experience, he would often offer us readers a detailed recounting of a funny situation that he found himself or others in during previous trips. Although extremely humorous, those stories do offer an appreciated addition and a laughable note to the story. In my opinion, the funniest and most memorable small anecdote throughout the story would be in chapter seven, when J. talks about the time he encounters the two sisters who dressed fancily during a boating trip. I chose this small excerpt because of the humorous situation, ridiculous circumstances, and its vicious mockery of those who decide to be prim during outings.
The initial situation was extremely funny, as most people would dress conveniently for a boating trip, not luxuriously in laces and frills. When one goes on an excursion of this sort, it is very rare, even for women at that time, to dress in a full-out, french dress. According to the narrator, J, women and girls look very pretty in a ‘tasteful boating costume’. However, the woman that J encountered on his boating trip went over the top with their costume. Every single one of their actions were very humorous, especially when J described the way they visibly shrank and shuddered every time ‘a drop touched them’. J’s struggle to keep the water off them was also very entertaining, as he said that he failed miserably, and the girls let out “sighs of relief” when he stopped rowing and gave his post to someone else. Pretty clothes and the boating trip they were taking did not go together, and the girls seemed to be suffering silently for their rash decisions. The unfitting wardrobe and the boating trip filled with water and sitting on the ground were two opposite “things”that were not meant to be together, making the situation very amusing.
The sisters’ choice of dress made them seem ridiculous on the boating trip, since it was extremely impractical to wear party dresses in such an event. As the narrator had described, everyone was having fun rowing, eating lunch on the ground, making the trip not a dainty, proper tea party, but an outdoor excursion that did not require such clothes. Since the girls dressed in “silky stuff” and “dainty shoes”, caused them to have trouble participating in many of the activities the other boaters did. For example, everyone had to be careful not to splash water onto the two sisters, and that caused everyone a great inconvenience. They also couldn’t sit down to have lunch with the rest of the people, because the “grass was dusty”, and was not suited for their expensive dresses. As a reader, this gave me a good laugh, because who would go boating like this, knowing that it would affect their ability to participate in the activities? The way their clothes obstructed their ability to have fun was a very funny and ridiculous excerpt of the story.
Other than being funny and ridiculous, I think this anecdote was a subtle mockery of those who tend to overdress. Even though not explicitly stated, I felt as if the author had a message to tell. The situation was constructed in a very meaningful way. Friends were going on a boat outing, and two sisters came along, dressed in gorgeous dresses, prim gloves, and accessories fit for a ball. They encounter a lot of trouble to participate in the day’s activities with the rest of the group, too scared that they will get their magnificent gowns dirty or ripped. It is possible that the author wanted to show us in a humorous way how women during that time period dressed to make themselves look nice. He might’ve wanted to show us how careful they were with their appearance, and did not want anything to tarnish their clothing. This anecdote was a small and unprovoking mockery that he made, and the vivid description made it very enjoyable.
In conclusion, this was my favorite anecdote from Three Men in a Boat, because of its very funny plot, ridiculous circumstances, and its subtle mockery. This story is only a small part of the book, Three Men in a Boat, which is filled with small anecdotes of the narrator throughout. Every single anecdote is fun to read, and this as a whole, is very worthwhile. Some readers might think that everything is rather sarcastic, and the characters do very weird and stupid actions. However, in my opinion, that’s what makes this story unique. The story is not told in a traditional fashion; as the story progresses, anecdotes are added in to add to the main storyline. Without the funny and laughable actions of each of the characters, no one would be able to have such a good laugh!
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