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

Christopher Romney
Dr. Spencer
Writing 150H
10/4/11
A Critical Analysis of “When Nice Ain’t So Nice”

Oxford Dictionaries define nice as “pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory”, but so many times terrible crimes are committed by so called “nice” people. Is there a connection to crime and nice? Elouise Bell believes there is. In her essay, “When Nice Ain’t So Nice” she persuades her Mormon audience that being “nice” is a tool of deceit used by bad people, In order to portray this, Bell uses diction associated with crime, familiar settings and words, extreme examples, and metaphors.

First, Bell uses diction that has denotations and or connotations associated with crime. She does this to create a mood that contrasts with the pleasant connotations associated with “nice”. Because criminal words and “nice” are continuously juxtaposed and used synonymously, the connotation of “nice” changes dramatically throughout the essay. An example of this is in the first paragraph: “more crimes have been committed behind the mask of niceness than behind all the ski masks worn to all the convenience store stickups ever perpetrated.” By intertwining “nice” with words like mask, the reader begins to associate the word with false identity and crime. The same can be said for the words “crime”, “stickup” and “perpetrated”. By beginning her essay in this manner, Bell is able to plant a seed that will grow throughout the essay. The seed is the idea that “nice ain’t so nice.” Nice, in reality, can bedeceitful.

Second, Bell uses phrases and settings that are familiar to her audience. In order to persuade someone, first you must be able to make a personal connection with them. To make a connection with her Mormon audience Bell uses examples from Utah, which is known for its Mormon culture, and is believed to be a place full of good people. Because this place is so familiar to the reader, fear is triggered when the reader discovers the terrible acts that these so called “nice” people commit. This fear helps Bell to change the connotation of the word “nice”. Another example of Bell’s use of familiar cities is Bell’s reference to “Happy Valley”, a nickname for Utah Valley.

I fantasize about what life in Happy Valley might be like if the lid of niceness were eased off the pressure cooker of emotions. —I worry about hostility on the highways and depression in the home. I worry about battering and abuse, both physical and sexual that seem to be on the rise in places where you wouldn’t expect it.

This triggers worry in the reader, because a “nice” member of their ward could be abusive to his wife and no one would ever know it. In Utah Valley a majority of the people are Mormons and by talking about the issues that “niceness” causes there, the reader relates it to his or her own culture and becomes concerned. Bell does this to open the reader’s eyes to the reality of the problem and to change his or her perspective on the meaning of “nice”. Moreover, creating worry by referring to a place that is familiar to her audience is an effective tool in convincing them that “nice” may be a façade.

Yet another example of using familiarities is Bell’s statement that “niceness” causes a misconception between the True Self and the False self, or the Natural Man. The phrase natural man is a common phrase used by Mormons to describe the sinful side of man. By using this familiar phrase instead of only “False self”, Bell is able to focus the readers’ attention on the subject while explaining why the aforementioned misconception is false.

Third, Examples of “nice” people doing bad things are spread throughout the essay. Because bad people use “niceness” as a facade, it is inherently bad due to its deceitful qualities. In the second paragraph Bell names Mark Hoffman, Alan Hadfield, and Ted Bundy who were all “nice” men, but terrible people. By beginning her essay with such examples, the readers’ perspective of “nice” immediately begins to change.

Furthermore, Bell discusses BYU students who would “turn in stray Number Two pencils to the Lost-and-Found depository,” but also write malicious letters to the editor of the student newspaper. By mentioning BYU, college age Mormon readers are immediately engaged because BYU is an LDS private school. Moreover, it makes the readers realize that anyone around them could be wearing a “nice” mask, but could truly be a dangerous and hateful person.

Fourth, Bell uses metaphor that appeal to pathos. One example of this is a mother whose child is abducted. The mother searches everywhere but cannot find her child. The mothers loved ones “try to press a different child on her, insisting that this one is much ‘nicer than her own.’” The mother is called selfish and crazy. “Devotees of the cult of niceness abandon the True Self and promote the False Self” just like they tried to give the mother a new child. This metaphor appeals to the pathos, especially to Mormon mothers whom might read Bell’s essay. Motherhood, abduction, and childhood, are subjects that carry a lot of emotion, especially to Mormons because they are so family oriented. By using these subjects in her metaphor, Bell is able to appeal to the pathos of her readers and convince them that “nice” is not good.

Though Oxford Dictionaries define nice as “pleasant, agreeable, satisfactory,” Bell clearly redefines “nice” as being dangerous, deceiving, and not nice. Bell warns her Mormon audience of the threat that “nice” poses to people everywhere: “the creed of niceness does damage to the Self, to the soul.” Through her diction, connection with her Mormon audience, examples, and metaphor she changes the readers perspective, and redefines the word “nice”. In short “Nice Ain’t so Nice”