Christina's Analysis of "When Nice Ain't So Nice"

Christina Wise

Critical Analysis 10/24/11

Exposing Evils Behind the Mask of Niceness

If you consider yourself a nice person, you may want to change that immediately. The quality of a person is too often gauged on how nice they are to others. In reality, such quality should be measured by a person’s ability to stay true to themselves. In her eye-opening article “When Nice Ain’t So Nice”, Elouise Bell uses Satire, Personification, and Word-Choice to successfully expose the overlooked dangers of “niceness” to her conservative audience.

Bell utilizes satire to show that those deemed “nice” by the general public can use that title to mask their darker sides. She introduces her examples one by one. “Grant Affleck was a really nice guy. (Nice cuts both ways in giving Utah its title as Fraud Capitol of the nation: we produce con men so nice they can’t be doubted, and victims so nice they “cain’t say no.” Document forger and bomb killer Mark Hoffman, they said, was nice. Likewise convicted child sex abuser Alan Hadfield--so nice that an entire community rose up to vilify the victims and slander the message rather than accept the verdict on their nice-guy neighbor. Apparently, Ted Bundy was as nice as they come” (170). Bell’s words drip with sarcasm and irony every time she calls one of these criminals a “nice guy.” By putting a description of detestable crimes side-by-side with the description of niceness, Bell changes the readers thinking about this over-rated quality, which is exactly her goal. She infers that it is not entirely the fault of the criminals for this deception, but the public is at fault too. Due to their lack of cautiousness, they are the one’s who deem these men “nice” in the first place. Bell addresses the ignorance of the public by displaying instances where the seemingly minute mistake of being too trusting of a smiling face, may result in horrid crimes. Bell not only informs but shocks her audience by revealing that assuming niceness, something they most likely all have been guilty of at some point, can result in them helping and defending those who threaten the community.

Also supporting that “niceness” can be used as a deceptive facade, Bell uses satire in presenting examples from her own experiences. Bell relates that in her “nice young-executive neighborhood of about fifteen homes, at least five wives are beaten regularly by their husbands” (172). Bell clearly states in the article that she is a resident of the state of Utah, one that is known for being primarily conservative and clean cut. She starts off by mocking the stereotype her neighborhood has by describing it as “nice young-executive.” She then strikes the reader by opposing that stereotype completely with the ugly truth. With this tool, she exposes the dangers of assuming, stereotyping, and avoiding truth when it is unpleasant. She reveals niceness as the means by which these harmful habits work. In speaking of an instance where she had been fooled by the pretense of niceness, she states: “Absolutely the nicest elder I knew in the mission field afterward had to uproot his wife and family and give up his profession because he had been found guilty of molesting preschoolers” (172). Missionaries are already supposed to be some of the most upright people, so by Bell stating that this man was “Absolutely the nicest missionary” means he was convincingly moral. Because of this, finding out that he has committed a immoral crime makes one question if they can trust even the nicest of the nice. Also, by stating that she too was tricked into thinking that someone capable of doing malicious crimes to be “nice guy,” she enforces the fact that this error can be made by anybody and everybody.

Additionally, Bell personifies “niceness,” putting it into a light where it is not often put in order to warn her audience of it’s detrimental qualities. Bell states that “Niceness edits the truth, dilutes loyalty, makes a caricature of patriotism. It hobbles Justice, shortcircuits Honor, and counterfeits Mercy, Compassion, and Love” (171). Bell says this in contrasting niceness to courage, which is said to protect all other virtues. By giving niceness these unfavorable human-like abilities, Bell gives it more accountability. When niceness is presented in this way, it becomes a tangible enemy rather than a desired quality. In explaining how this quality attacks the qualities that are held so close by many, it puts the reader in defense-mode, which successfully achieves Bell’s incentive to warn. Again giving this attribute life-like qualities, Bell states that “Nice flies under false colors, wants the reputation of the gentle dove without the wisdom of the wise serpent” (174). Nice is presented with the ability to want, giving it intentions and Bell infers these intentions to be those of deception. Due to the associations with images of the dove and the serpent, the reader is better able to understand just how gentle Nice wants to seem and just how unwise Nice is. Those who intend to deceive are those to beware of and such precautions are what Bell is successful in getting the reader have.

Lastly, Bell’s skillful use of word choice effectively executes the ideas and connotations that she intends to support her steadfast point. In talking about the road-rage that spurts out among Utah drivers, she uses the term “zucchini-sharing” (171) to describe these residents. This term is one that expresses that these people are so nice that they are willing to share their home grown vegetables with one another in order to seem giving and nice. The point is later made that when these same neighbors get behind the wheel, they are no longer willing to be so nice. So much is said with just that single hyphenated word. It encompasses a stereotype and sets Bell up to later contradict it to make her point. Still referring to Utah drivers, Bell expresses that they are just “waiting to slosh out on Interstate-15.” The phrase “slosh out” infers the carelessness of the drivers. She communicates that behind this seemingly caring and nice population, hostile and heedless feelings hide. It also gives the reader a visual image of these drivers that opposes their typical image of the population. Bell concludes the article by stating that niceness is “considerably more dangerous than luke-warmth” (174). The word “luke-warmth” appeals to the sense of feel and has a connotation associated with comfort and a lack of conviction. She says that this word is far from describing the danger that comes with niceness therefore communicating that being nice is very dangerous. Bell’s use of this word is successful because of the association with one of the five senses, the reader can not only know but feel the intensity of the danger.

Bell’s ironic and sarcastic tone, skillfully-chosen words, and giving of human-like abilities to a sought-after quality all serve to warn her intended audience against this cunning threat that niceness imposes on the lives of many. Although Bell is apparently arguing against niceness, she more importantly insists that this quality is not to be used to mask other feelings and intentions that can thrash out and hurt other people. Readers need to realize that communicating feelings up front and staying true to ourselves instead being subject to the pressures of being seen as a nice person will serve to protect us from our dark sides that should never have to be uncovered.