"Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby" Summary and Interpretation

"Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby" which was first published in 1973, is a story that represents and extreme situation.  Some "friends" have decided to execute one of their friends for "going too far".  It is never revealed exactly what was done to warrant such a tradgic event from the "friends".  The humor in the story is presented in the first paragraph when Colby is asked what kind of music he wants played at his funeral.  When he answers the question he is told that he needs to "be reasonable" because the amount of time and money that would have to go into a song like that would go over budget.  This of course is absurd because the friends themselves aren't being reasonable.  "Hugh was worried about the wording of the invitations" is the first line of the second paragraph (Barthelme).  The boys are worried about the authorities finding out which would play into the minds of anyone breaking the law.  The narrator is absurd in his answer as he feels that Colby was their friend and that he "belonged" to them (Barthelme).  The friends continue to discuss the event and talk about what he will be hanged with and jump off of.  The final paragraph has a "friend" that had been silent the whole time finally speak up just to ask if they should hang Colby with wire instead of rope.  This makes Colby uncomfortable and the narrator tells Hank that that isn't a good idea because it would be bad for the tree and the environment.  The final sentences in the story talk of the event being well attended and that since that day, no one had gone that far again.
While the reader is never really told what Colby had done to deserve a hanging, there are bits of humor in the story.  The story is obviously absurd in that it has children haning another child that is supposed to be their friend.  The story has a paragraph that talks about tradition and "June hangings" and makes the reader think of wedding traditions.  There is a sense of realism in that the boys don't want the authorites to find out, but everything else about the story is absurd and a classic Barthelme writing.