Annotated 25-26
There would be a certain grim balance if we dragged Embraisch’Nj offstage along with Annunziata to do some time in less comfortable accommodations than the Admiral’s. But that would not be even slightly in character for Syr’Nj. Her sense of justice would never permit her to throw him to the wolves, regardless of how stung she was by his delivery. And she may also need to assert a little control over this situation now, because of how stung she was by his delivery.
And yet, we won’t be seeing him again after this, nor should we. We’ve said all there is to say with him, and despite Syr’Nj’s implication that he’s getting a second chance, not everyone should get a redemption arc. Some stories are about things lost that can never be recovered.
I’m not saying it’s entirely just that this should be so. As Byron once pointed out, Syr’Nj will never truly experience the lack of other options that guided Embraisch’Nj to approach his craft the way he did. It’s not like comedy is an easy gig in any society, and you have to know your audience. But even when the options are few, the choices have consequences.
I like to think that after an intense time of self-introspection, which ended at about the same time as the comic, he later became an inclusive comedian who learned to use comedy to punch up.
A nice idea, but no great introspection would be necessary, I think. It’s all about catering to his audience. In Gastonia, he plays to the racism. In Souf Korral (however it’s spelled) the audience has changed into a more inclusive and tolerant one, and so would change his comedy material.
I don’t doubt he’d always have wished to work with the latter kind of comedy. He just knew his customer base too well for that.
Honestly, that’s why I don’t see the phrase “redemption arc” being relevant to him. If anything, he’s just had it. He saw that even with all the pressures on him, even after all the years of humor at his own expense to but food on the table, he deep down has standards which he doesn’t want to transgress. He discovered that on stage, in this case, and now he knows better, even if his livelihood for the time being still requires self-deprecating racist jokes.
Yeah. It still would have been nice to see him at least as a background character in one of the various pieces of the epilogue, telling better jokes or even having gotten out of comedy. Or something.
Agreed. I still don’t really understand the choices he made here, but I was disappointed that we never saw him again. I’d have liked to see him learn something from this, even if it was just “stay the hell away from politicians”.