In the short story, “What a Thought” by Shirley Jackson, situational irony is presented at the end. Throughout the short story, the main character, Margaret, is having morbid thoughts about killing her husband which are completely unwanted, “I never dreamed of killing him. I want him to live. Stop it, stop it,” she tells herself. Margaret's life seems splendid and very normal and she loves her husband very much, “Margaret found herself thinking with some pride that unlike many men she had heard about, her husband did not fall asleep after a particularily good dinner,” admiring how he is truly an amazing husband. Therefore, killing her husband was very unexpected which is ironic considering her picture perfect life and husband. The irony is
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Show MoreIn “Invitation to a Murder” by Josh Pachter, situational irony is used an extremity of times. The first example comes from the title of the story. Eleanor Abbott pre-planned for there to be 12 renowned men in the criminal justice system invited to witness the death of her husband! Once they were there, she planned to blame them on his death! This is ironic since these men are busy fighting murder, and here they are about to be blamed for one! The following example comes in when the men come over to the Abbott household.
Situational irony is when the reader or audience is surprised by the outcome of the story plot. We see more of situational irony later on in the story, especially since it often leads to disputes and fights. For instance, when Robin was supposedly ordered to put flower droplets shot from cupid’s arrow into the eyes of Demetrius, he ended up putting them in the eyes of Lysander instead, mistaking him for the Athenian man Oberon had seen and causing a dispute. Another time is when we see Titania having her affections transferred from the Indian boy to Nick Bottom when he has
The short story ‘The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, is honestly a very confusing twisted story about a small peaceful farming community you think at first, but that’s not the case we soon find out. Jackson does a great job showing the reader the dark side of irony in “the lottery” she does this by giving examples of Exposition, foreshadowing, tone and irony its self. Jackson begins the story by explaining the setting. That is done by telling where the story takes place and what season it takes place in, along with the time of day. “THE MORNING OF JUNE 27TH was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (624) Second example from Steve Dimeo “Introduce a setting, but with a twist in the hands of a skilled writer (not Snoopy!) who knows what she's doing, opening with a description can lull a reader into a complacency that can make the shock to come even more startling. Shirley Jackson does this in "The Lottery,' her still often-anthologized short story first published in The Men; Yorker in 1948” (Diemo) These two
Situational irony is present most of the short story “Winter Concert”. As the concert was supposed to be a wonderful time for Janie and Bob as they seemed to be looking forward to it. Janie seemed very excited about the concert, and Bob was very supportive of this and seemed to enjoy Janie’s excitement. The Lydia’s conversation with Janie seemed to end any excitement Janie had. As after Janie had heard about Bob going to Miami she began to hate the music; “it seemed to bring back all the shadows and aches of a lifetime” (134). After Janie was so excited, it seemed very likely she seemed to have the shadows and aches from the memories of Bob cheating on her before. This became very apparent when they both got home and Janie confronted Bob about the issue.
As in World War II, the unwillingness of bystanders to defend and question the rights of innocents can lead to devastating consequences, a similar narrative is told in, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson uses different types of literary elements to develop a theme to her story. In the story, a community comes together every year to randomly pick someone’s name for sacrifice. Although some people are against this sacrifice, they don't stand up and instead they follow the terror of tradition. There is a universal presence of evil inside everyone, that is covered up by goodness, which Shirley Jackson portrays by using irony and imagery.
For example, on page HUGH, Red Pollard was afflicted with blindness in his right eye, yet he never told any of the other characters, so that is then dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something that the character does not. The reader knows that Red is blind, however characters such as Tom or Howard do not. Another example of irony is found on page HHJS, when Red is hospitalized and he can’t ride Seabiscuit, so he gives the new jockey, Woolf, advice. This advice is later determined to be the reason why Woolf lost a very big race. This is situational irony because Red’s advice was supposed to make Woolf win, however it caused the loss. One more example of irony is on page HFG, when Howard replaces the horse as the primary transportation with the car. Howard later comes to living on a secluded ranch with a love for horses. This technically falls into the situational type of irony.
One example of expertly used irony is when Hamlet is talking to his mother when he hears a noise behind the curtains, so he stabs the figure behind the tapestries thinking it is Claudius, “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (3, 4, 24), only to find out it is Polonius. This irony can be interpreted as dramatic irony, because the audience knows Polonius is behind the curtains while Hamlet does not. It can also be interpreted as situational irony, because Hamlet suspects that the person spying on him is Claudius. Wanting to avenge his father, he stabs him through the curtain but it turned out to be Polonius. Doing this initiates a chain of events that lead to his tragic death. Another prime example of irony increasing the enjoyment of the readers for the past 400 years is when Laertes is killed by his own poisoned sword. When Osric asks Laertes how he is doing right after he was scratched with his own sword, Laertes responds, “Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. I am justly killed with mine own treachery.” (5, 2, 308-309). It is quite ironic that Laertes is murdered by his own plan. One would expect Laertes to draw first blood as he is a better skilled swordsman than Hamlet. However, he dies by poison first because the sword that was intended to kill Hamlet was used on him; this is situational irony. Irony brings a greater depth to the story.
In reality, surprise is accompanied by other emotions. Though people present these feelings through reaction or impulse, authors present feeling in their stories by using a device called situational irony. Situational irony is the unexpected twist commonly found in short stories. In O. Henry’s “The Ransom of Red Chief,” situational irony is used to create a humorous effect. Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony in his story “The Necklace” to present a sense of justice to the reader. Based on these two stories, it is evident that situational irony is a commonly used method for authors to show sentiment.
Situational irony is used in both O’Henry’s “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant but the effect of the techniques on the tone of each story is very different. In O’Henry’s story, the protagonist, Red Chief, is being kidnapped by two criminals, Bill and Sam. There are many ironic events that occur in the story. For example, the reader expects Red Chief to want to go back home to his family but instead, he is having the time of his life. As hard as Bill tries, he cannot even send him home. Bill utters to Sam, “‘I showed him the road to Summit and kicked him about eight feet nearer there at one kick’” (6). This is comical because it is using a literary technique known as slapstick comedy. The reader can imagine Bill swinging his leg and kicking Red Chief all the way back to Summit. Another example of situational irony in the story is that the reader would expect that Red Chief to be scared but what is actually happening is that Bill is terrified. While speaking with Sam, Bill complains about Red chief yet again, “‘I’ve stood by you without batting an eye ...
Within more serious novels, irony acts as a way of comic relief and or irony can serve poetic justice to the respective antagonist of said novel, Poetic justice is sentenced to Jack through an occurrence of situational irony at the end of Lord of the Flies. In the ending sequence of Lord of the Flies the main protagonist, Ralph, is trying to escape from an island wide manhunt by Jack’s tribe. Jack’s sole intention for the manhunt is to claim Ralph 's head and thus his order would be marked as the most heinous to date. With pursuing tribes men close behind and a raging inferno even behind them, Ralph is cornered as he emerged on to the sand of a beach. When the reader is certain Ralph will be caught an act of deus ex machina presents itself when a naval officer is standing directly in front of Ralph. Unbenounced to the boys, their accidentally caused raging wildfire has ironically signaled a british naval vessel to come ashore and investigate. This is an example of both dramatic and situational irony due to two factors. One factor being that throughout the book Jack and his people were largely opposed to the prospect of rescued by way signaling ships through a fire. In addition, being that the boys rescue is due in part to Jack’s creation of an accidental signal fire contradicts his very nature; thus creating situational irony. As for the
The narrative, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin takes the reader on an unexpected journey of emotions through the last sixty minutes of Mrs. Mallard’s life. In the beginning, Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband’s death in a working accident on the railroad. Thus, as she processes the news that would be assumed rather mournful, Mrs. Mallard becomes overcome with joy. Mrs. Mallard gathers alone in her room, but not to mourn. Although, only minutes pass the ending approaches with a twisted finish. The husband appears at the door alive and now stand before her. As a matter of fact, turns out he was nowhere near the accident. Almost in result of this situation, Mrs. Mallard dies of a heart attack. In other words, examples of irony can be found all throughout the narrative, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. Irony is a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. Moreover,
Using situational irony Chopin shows the reader, Mrs. Millard in her room, sitting in a comfortable chair, “into this she sank, pressed down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (4). She is thought to be exhausted by every part of her body and soul drained with the idea of her husband gone, but while sitting there looking out into an open window, “there were patches of blue sky” (5), Chopin shows she was becoming very optimistic about the situation. Josephine, Mrs. Millard’s sister, is worried that Mrs. Millard, Louise, is locking herself up to be ill. Chopin is showing the reader Situational irony by telling us what Louise was doing. She was not sulking but instead coming into “spring days, summer days and all
The use of situational irony puts a twist in to the ending. The reader expects the character to die as consequence of her situation; however, she dies because of the emotion of the situation rather than the reality. This creates situational irony because her death was the result of something other than what the reader expected. The story’s plot revolves around feelings of freedom and ultimate death of Mrs. Mallard by seeing her husband alive. The story begins with Mrs. Mallard upon hearing her husband’s death and her being alone in the room, “she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” (Chopin par.10). Mrs. Mallard establishes feelings of agony upon hearing of her husband’s death,
Dramatic irony was perhaps the most prevailing type of irony in the story. One example of this type of irony can be seen in the death of Mrs. Mallard after her recently deceased husband walked through the door. Situational irony closely resembles the dramatic irony of the story. The final type of irony used in the story is verbal irony. The heart trouble of Mrs. Mallard can be considered verbal irony. The heart trouble mentioned at the beginning of the story is assumed to be a physical ailment, but this problem could also be attributed to the fact that she has a troubled soul. By using irony, the reader could experience an almost humorous aspect of the
Morrie Schwartz once stated that “Dying is only one thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else”. This represents that dying will only hurt for a period of time, but when one is going on with their life unhappy they are unable to overcome their pain that will just linger on. This quote goes hand and hand with Terminal by Nadine Gordimer, Terminal is narrated by a third person point of view of a story of a woman and her significant other, whom overcome her lingering thoughts of ending her life. She later makes her significant other promise to not have her revived which leads to her commiting suicide, but ironically she was revived with her significant other by