Desiree's Baby Irony Essay

Exclaiming, “Oh great” after finding out you failed an exam, a traffic cop who gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets, the urge you have to warn a character who walks into an abandoned warehouse where most likely a serial killer is waiting: these are all examples of one of the most used and most effective literary tools—irony. There are many different scenarios that can be categorized as ironic, the defining factor being the inclusion of “discrepancy or incongruity” (Arp 359). These many different situations and experiences can be classified as three types of irony: verbal, situational, or dramatic.

Let’s take the example of exclaiming, “Oh great,” after finding out you failed an exam, a perfect example of verbal irony. Of course failing an exam is not great. You, in fact, mean the exact opposite of what you’re saying—this discrepancy is what creates the irony (Arp 359). Verbal irony is the simplest form of irony because it directly states the disparity (Arp 359). Through the use of dialogue, authors are able to

In Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby,” we see two of the types of irony—situational and verbal. The first of the two is seen at the end of the story when it is revealed that Armand is the parent of African heritage, not Desiree. It is clear Chopin included irony as the backbone to her story because it helps the reader “feel the truth the story conveys” not just understand it intellectually (Arp 361). In “Desiree’s Baby”, the truth conveyed is that Armand was in the wrong for judging Desiree. He disowns her because of his fear of losing his status, but it is ironic because, in the end, he loses much more than than his reputation. In the end, he loses not only self-image, which he claimed had one of the best names in Louisiana, but also his wife, whom he loves dearly, and his