Question

The novel 'Three Men in a Boat' involves neither great
adventure nor great humour; yet it is an amusing story that conveys a moral.
Elaborate.

Answer 1

'Three men in boat' is simply an amusing story. Jerome frequently uses Observational humor which sometimes overlaps with satire. In a flashback, J. recollects how he once went to the British Museum to research a treatment for his hay fever, and after reading about diseases, convinced himself that he was suffering from every illness known to man except for housemaid’s knee. J.’s doctor, clearly recognizing the man's paranoia, prescribed him beefsteak, beer, walking, and good sleep habits, and urged him not to “stuff up your head with things you don’t understand” (10). The dry rather self deprecating humour of it all plainly comes out.The moral which can be learnt from the story is that we should remain content in our current conditions. Just as the three men finally decide that they are better off back on the dry land, one should not crib in their current life and stay happy.The humor is woven in the language and the funny incidents that occur to Harris, George and J. himself, the narrator. The plot is small. Three Victorian men have a boat journey. The random anecdotes and funny situations make it a comedy classic. One after another, all the incidents are rib-tickling. Whether it may be packing, making Irish stew, taking water, punting, visiting the inn having a trout in a glass case, meeting of Tom the cat and Montmorency-all have classical humor that defies description. This humor is a bit ironical also and is a sweet criticism. It is a light satire of its own kind. No one can help laughing at the commotion caused by the young lady's fox-terrier or when the punt boy hangs on his pole like a monkey. The novel is, thus, a comedy classic of its own times.