The “Dinner Theatre" section (page 35) incorporates humour into a serious situation. Why do you think Anderson uses this technique? Is it successful?

Melinda does a little acting of her own when she does an impression of her parents at the dinner table. She describes her father with a sort of Arnold Schwarzenegger like character and her mother like Glen Close. Melinda plays the victim. This is rather funny but it couches the underlying difficulties that she is going through with her parents.