Family Vacations

            John Hughes' "Vacation 58" was one of the funnier stories I've read so far this year. What I liked most about it was the nonchalant manor that the young narrator talked about a chaotic event. Throughout the story, crazy, over the top events happen to the narrator and his family, and the fact that the narrator is a young boy makes the events seem like no big deal. For example, when Clarke (the father) is driving through Illinois late at night, the narrator states, "Dad drove up on the side-walk and ran over a bike and some toys. Mom accused him of being asleep at the wheel, but he said he was just unfamiliar with traffic signs (263). The somewhat flattened voice that the narrator states the chaotic events makes it very humorous. It is a form of incongruity because one would expect the narrator to freak out when his dad recklessly drive, but he just casually tells the story and moves on.
           This same exact patterns happens again and again in the story, except the car ride keeps on getting more chaotic. Highway patrol pulls over the station wagon, and it turns out that they were dragging the dog at 60+ miles per hour for half a mile. They drove the station wagon off a four foot cliff. They get robbed by the gas station attendant that towed their car. The dad robbed the hotel, runs from the police, get attacked by Indians, and eventually the events climaxed with Clarke shooting Walt Disney. Every single one of these chaotic events is told in a flat tone from the young narrator who doesn't really understand the severity of the situation. The difference between the chaos of the events, and the nonchalant way the events are told is an example of incongruity in this story.
          Another thing I liked about this story was the underlying suburban, Midwest stereotype. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska, which is essentially in the center of the continental US. To drive anywhere fairly exciting, it's either an expensive flight or a long road trip. With a family of six, flying was rarely an option so for almost all vacations we would pack up the suburban and try to stand each other for usually over eight hours. The beginning of "Vacation 58" is pretty much an exaggerated version of what happens before each of my family vacations. My dad will be super meticulous about packing the car just right, making sure to include his golf clubs. We always plan at leaving around 8:00 or so in the morning, but rarely make it out before 9:30. For my family at least, vacations always seem like a great idea but always result in tears, blood, and a lot of stress. I feel like Hughes captured this situation perfectly. The family was so excited to go on a great vacation to Disney Land, but it turns out to be fairly destructive. Granted the family in the story went through a little more chaos, I was still able to relate to the fundamental situation.