Love Me Not

     In You're Ugly, Too by Lorrie Moore, Moore uses an abundance of anecdotes and flashbacks to allow the reader to truly understand who Zoe is.  She is portrayed as a cynical and lonely person who tries to use jokes to get her through life.  She uses sarcasm to help her get a kick out of situations.  It is her only way of being able to communicate with others and cope with the life that she is living.  Her biggest joke is when she gave Earl a shove and pushed his arms off the ledge and his beer fell to the ground.  When he freaks out, Zoe says that she was " 'just kidding,' she said. 'I was just kidding' " (370).  She finally took it too far, and this shows how sad her life really is.  Zoe has to result to jokes and sarcastic humor to hide the fact that she is this depressed and dismissive woman.  She will never be able to have serious relationships with the kind of life style that she is living.  Zoe has to realize the reality of her situation in order to better her future.