Irony can come in many forms, whether it is humor or sympathy. In this case, it is both. Authors can use irony to create feelings or to help with a story line. If a person won a lot of money in a lottery, they would feel happy, but in the short story “The Lottery” Tessie Hutchinson has won a gruesome death. This is considered irony because it surprises the reader. Any story can have irony but some may take a while to understand. The two stories “The Ransom Of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” are filled with situational irony.
O.Henry uses situational irony to create humor and a slight bit of sympathy in “The Ransom Of Red Chief.” For example, the kidnapping victim in the story enjoys being kidnapped. When the boy is captured, he should be afraid,
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For instance, Mathilde believes she deserves better than a middle class life. Mathilde desires to be rich and famous, but in reality she is poor. When going to a party Mathilde picks through a bunch of necklaces and finds one. Although she does not know, the necklace she chooses is fake showing Mathilde is not fit to wear expensive jewelry. This is ironic because Mathilde looks and feels like she should be rich but fate says otherwise. After looking wealthy at the party, Mathilde goes home wearing, “...modest everyday clothes, whose poverty clashed with the beauty of the ball-dress” (4). Wearing these clothes proves to everyone that Mathilde is not as she seems. Another example of the irony in “The Necklace” is how Mathilde was not poor before but in the end she is in the lowest class. Mathilde loses the necklace she borrowed and tries to replace it but it costs thousands of dollars of which Mathilde and her husband do not have. They borrow money from other people and replace the necklace and then spend ten years working off the debt. Mathilde lives in the attic of an apartment building with her husband and finally understands what life is like when a person accepts fate and looks at the beauty of the world around them. This is ironic because Mathilde spent her whole life being miserable and wishing she was rich. Years later Mathilde sees her friend of whom she borrowed the necklace from, and
Throughout the historic course of literature, one story known as “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Cornell has incorporated specific types of irony for multiple differing and fundamental reasons. Situational irony is the first use of ironic elements that will be discussed in regards to the story. Situational irony is defined as “an incongruity that appears between the expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead ” (literarydevices.net). The story’s climax offers a unique twist to the plot as it includes an unexpected discovery, ultimately incorporating situational irony into the sequence of events. The story starts out with the introduction of the legendary hunter Bob Rainsford as he is shipwrecked and trapped on a deserted island. While staying on the island, Rainsford is introduced to the eccentric General Zaroff, who is a self proclaimed expert hunter as well. In short, the General turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who forces Rainsford into a game of “cat and mouse”, which causes Rainsford to fight for his life. This state of affair is considered to be situational irony because Zaroff defies the expectations of being a hunter to the audience. This is specifically shown in the text when Rainsford confronts General Zaroff in regards to what he is hunting:
For example the family go on a fun road trip across the country and they end up being murder. O 'Connor uses a few types of irony to convey her message about what makes a person good. In the first paragraph the Grandmother says she would never take her children where there is criminal on the loose and if she did she wouldn’t know what to do. However, the Grandmother takes the family to a dirt road which will later lead them to their demise. The story 's irony focuses on the family 's communication with the Misfit. "She would of been a good woman, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life" (O’Connor). The characters don 't realize whats going when death is pointing right at them and as a family they grow closer than they ever have, despite them being dreadful
“Fear me,love me,do as I say,I’ll be your slave” says Jareth The Goblin King from the Labyrinth. By using irony, the author of a story can create a surprising events. Authors use multiple kinds of irony to make stories more surprising.
1. Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used very effectively in her story. Situational irony is used to show the reader what is assumed to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to hint to the reader something is happening to the characters in the story that they do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
...octor is an obstetrician but cannot save the life of the child. In the three central texts discussed heretofore it has become evident to the reader that irony is used to aid in the representation of an unfortunate event. The study of more short stories could come to show how irony can be used to demonstrate many events that end with different outcomes, whether they are positive or negative as in this case.
Irony is when what is said is different than, what appears to be real. A media that utilizes irony is “The Hunger Games when Prim Rose got picked to participate in the game even though Katniss' name was in the draw more. Irony is not only shown in movies bit, in Television shows and stories as well. “The Possibility of Evil,” “The Skating Party” and “The Lottery” are three short-stories that show irony. “The Possibility of Evil” is about a 71-year-old woman, living in a small town, growing beautiful roses and she spends her days trying to the town of evil. “The Skating Party” is about someone's first love and how they lost them. ”The Lottery” is about a tradition in a small village that everyone, but one person wants to give up. The short-stories
“The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.” -Robert A. Heinlein. In the short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, the author Shirley Jackson uses irony to develop the traits of the protagonist, Miss Strangeworth, in her small hometown. Throughout the story, there are many examples of irony as Miss Strangeworth goes through her normal day. Irony is an engaging literary device used by authors to expose underlying intentions which become critical to the development of the plot.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” irony is an underlying theme used throughout the story. The setting is introduced as a “clear and sunny” day, but ends with the brutal death of a housewife (715). The two people who essentially run the town, Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers, also have ironic names. In addition, the characters and the narrator make ironic statements throughout the story.
. There are different forms of irony, and Night incompasses the three types of irony: dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal Irony.
There is an immense amount of irony, because the kidnappers thought they would be in charge of the innocent, red-head boy, but he easily obtains the power. When first putting their plan into action, they are stumped when the boy throws a rock in Bill’s eye, in response to “...would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride?”(Henry, pg.2) The author uses this opportunity to implement sarcasm in this ironic moment, when “that boy put up a fight like a welterweight cinnamon bear,”(Henry, pg.2) and the thieves were finally able to place the boy in their buggy, after wrestling like they were in an arena. That little boy sure had a big punch. But, once they reached their cave, the unanticipated had occurred, “that boy seemed to be having the time of his life.”(Henry, pg.2) Sam and Bill planned to punish him and assumed he would be bawling to leave, however he smiled continuously and begged to stay. “I fell into a troubled sleep, and dreamed that I had been kidnapped and chained to a tree by a ferocious pirate with red hair.”(Henry, pg.3) Never would Sam have thought he would be the one fearing his victim, a ten year old boy. Their whole plan was to gain $1,500 from this torturous experience; but paradoxically, they ended up losing $250 to Ebenezer from their prior money, just so they could get rid of the boy.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "dramatic irony (literature)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
Irony is when the reality of a situation is different from what it seems and when something that one does not expect happens. The classic example most commonly used is that of a fire department burning down. Irony can be found in "A Girl's Story" by David Arnason, "Araby" by James Joyce and "The Happy Man" by Naguib Mahfouz. In "A Girl's Story" David Arnason speaks directly to the reader about the process of creating a good story with interesting characters. The most obvious irony of this story is that "A Girl's Story" is written in fact by a man, therefore it should actually be called "A Man's Story" or "A Man's Story About A Girl." Another example of irony is when David Arnason is creating his main character. He is thinking of the hair colour of his character aloud when he remarks: "If I were feeling better I might be able to do it an ironic way, then black hair...
“The Necklace” ends up to be a very ironic story as it explains why valuing the more important things in life can be very effective towards a person’s happiness. One example of the story’s irony is when she is at the party dressed as a beautiful and fancy woman. ‘She danced madly, wildly, drunk with pleasure, giving no thought to anything in the triumph of her beauty, the pride of her success…’ (pg 193). This is a form of dramatic irony because Guy explains earlier that Mme. Loisel is just a middle class woman who dreams of a wealthy life, but she is just alluding herself as a luxurious woman. Another example of irony in the story is when Madame found out that the necklace was paste. On page 196, Mme. Forestier, Ma...
Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
Situational irony occurs throughout most of The Necklace; it appears when Madame Forestier lends Madame Loisel a diamond necklace since “[she’s] upset because [she] haven’t a single piece of jewelry or a gemstone or anything to wear with [her] dress.[She’ll] look like a pauper. [She] almost think[s] it would be better if [she] didn’t go” and lets her borrow it for a ball one night so Madame Loisel can fit in; however, she ends up losing the necklace(174).Madame Loisel was not informed of the fact that the diamond necklace was actually fake. In a panic, Madame Loisel and her husband work hard and pay the loans off for many years trying to replace the necklace only to find out it wasn’t real; they gave up their decent lifestyle and had to save up for ten years. The situational irony is the fact that Madame Loisel thought that if she borrowed the diamond necklace it would help her become closer to the life she wanted, but the necklace ended up putting her and her husband into poverty and without the life that she longed for, instead. The ten years of poverty that Madame Loisel and