Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby

Barthelme’s “Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby” fuses the bizarre and the mundane. The text interweaves humor and darkness, creating a narrative space where the conventional boundaries of tone and subject matter blur. The story’s themes include the delicate nature of friendships, the compelling influence of group dynamics, and the rigidity of societal norms that often govern people’s actions.

The structure of the story, unfolding from the perspective of an anonymous narrator, further amplifies its distinctive style. The narrator, together with their friends, is planning an execution for their mutual friend, Colby. They approach this undertaking with the same casual manner one might use when organizing an everyday social event. This jarring juxtaposition of the severity of the act with a nonchalant backdrop generates an atmosphere of profound absurdity, a style that has become a distinctive feature in Modern and Postmodern literature.

Barthelme’s story manifests prominent traits of Postmodern literature as it veers away from traditional storytelling norms. Rather than following the classical progression of a clear beginning, middle, and end or offering an intricate exploration of the characters’ personalities, the narrative is marked by fragmentation, pervading uncertainty, and layers of