In the short story An E-mail to God of Grant Munroe, an accountant was canned. His name is Jacob, the most boring and honest man in their office. He owns a BMW and a mansion in the suburbs that the CFO and the lead of sales concluded as the evidences of his stealing from their company. They fired the honest and boring accountant because he coincidentally owns a BMW and a mansion. After weeks of getting fired, Jacob wrote a letter to God that should be goes unsent. In Henri Bergson theory, mental inelasticity is an obstruction to “living well” that needs laughter as a correction (6). In this short story, cynicism is the mental inelasticity that was demonstrated by the lead of sales, and sympathy is the correction that was demonstrated by the…show more content… Bergson states on his theory that laughter corrects the mechanical or mental inelasticity of man, so that man can live “well” (6). In this short story, sympathy is the laughter that corrects cynicism. It desensitizes the misery that cynicism produced, so that man can live well according to the standard of society. This correction was demonstrated when the letter of Jacob was sent “like a little bird chirping away on boughs and flitting from tree to tree.” The tree’s boughs symbolize the helping hands of those people who forwarded Jacob’s letter. They show their sympathy through helping him spreading his sentiments. As the CEO read Jacob’s letter after the continuous spreading “from tree to tree,” he gave Jacob money along with a note “Hope this helps. Signed, God.” The author shows that CEO/God, as the most powerful, has also sympathy for someone’s misery. Religiously, this demonstrates the right way of “living well.” Their compassion demonstrates their ability to live “well” in a cynical world. That is, even though other people only saw the worst in human nature, receiving compassion - the helping hands and the spiritual support - makes man’s misery bearable. It neutralized the misery that cynicism caused. As Bergson might say, sympathy is a “social gesture” that corrects the mental inelasticity of the cynical