Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Logic affects our lives everyday. We use it both subconsciously and consciously to make decisions which can be as important as our careers, or as insignificant as what to eat for lunch. Logic can also be used in other ways. Ironically, others’ bad logic can result in us learning something just as much as we learn from our own bad decisions. This is shown in Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail.
One example of this ironic use of logic is with the trial of the witch. In this trial, Monty Python uses deductive reasoning to conclude that the woman is a witch. By this, he is demonstrating how deductive reasoning is not always right. Just because wood burns like a witch and floats like a duck does not mean she is a witch. The conclusion that “if she weighs as much as a duck, she is a witch”, therefore, is entirely false. Her weight, at no moment, is a subject of the argument. It is just thrown into the argument, along with the duck and the wood, to make a connection between her and the duck. From this we learn that an argument cannot be won by randomly connecting points until you have proven yours.
Another display of this ironic logic is with the Knights who say “Ni”. They are an example of a Red Herring Argument. They attempt to distract Arthur and his men from their original task with meaningless quests and tasks. Monty Python places the task of “cutting down the greatest tree with a herring” to ironically relate to this type of logic. It could have been anything else, but the herring was used to relate to this type. From this, we learn that there will often be many things in life to sidetrack us.
The greatest display of ironic logic in the movie was the rabbit outside the Cave of Caerbannog. This is an excellent example of deductive logic. Arthur and his knights assume that, since all the little white rabbits they have seen were harmless, that the one guarding the cave would also be harmless.
Another literary term is irony. When Unferth gave Beowulf the sword to go kill Grendel`s mother, Unferth thought it was a good gesture and that it would help. When the fight with the mother later started, the sword became totally useless. This is an example of situational irony, because we as the reader knows of the sword, while Unferth doesn't.
“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.
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
An example of irony right off the bat is Fortunato’s name. We, as the readers, know Fortunato’s fate. His name translates to “fortunate”, but we know that isn’t the case. When Fortunato states that his “cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill [him],” we know that, that is an example of dramatic irony. It won’t be the cough that kills him. It’ll be Montresor, whose name is revealed closer to the end of the short story. The suspense leading up to the death of Fortunato helps create the dark and ominous tone because we are waiting for the story to unfold since we do not know when Montresor plans on killing Fortunato, yet alone know how he will do so. Poe uses imagery and vocabulary to allow the readers to visualize the setting and become more engaged with the story. One scene where this can be seen is when the wall of the wine cellar is being described as having “long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling.” The humorous tone is created through the use of imagery. Fortunato is described as wearing a motley, which is a jester suit, with a “conical cap and bells” on his head to a carnival. This creates a humorous tone because Fortunato is dressed foolishly which ties in with his character since he doesn’t see his death coming. Another use of irony that aids in the humorous, but ominous tone is when Fortunato toasts to the “buried that repose around us,” not
Throughout reading Edger Alan Poe’s short story’s “The Cask of Amontillado” we are able to infer the intentions of the characters through Poe's use of irony. The character Montresor has been insulted by another character, Fortunato. As a result of Fortunato’s insult, Montresor vows to seek revenge of Fortunato by punishing with impunity. In order for Montresor’s devious plan to be carried out, Poe implements various examples of verbal irony throughout his story.
In the story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the author uses lots of verbal irony to emphasize the evil intentions of Montresor.One of the examples of verbal irony in the story that he uses is “The cough’s a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.” and “true--true, I replied.” The effect of this irony is it that Montresor already knows how Fortunato will die.Another example of verbal irony used in the story was when they did a toast to each other. “I drink”, he said, to the buried that repose around us.”
One technique that Shakespeare uses is irony. Verbal irony is when a character says one thing but means the opposite. When a reader understands the irony of what a character is saying, then he can truly understand the nature and intentions of the character. An example of verbal irony is when Macbeth says to Banquo, "Tonight we hold a solemn supper, sir,/ And I’ll request your presence" (Macbeth 3.1.13-14). The reader soon discovers that Banquo never makes it to the banquet because he is brutally murdered by order of Macbeth. Shakespeare also uses situation irony. This occurs when the results of an action or event are different than what is expected. An example of situation irony occurs when Macduff talks to Malcolm and discusses the tragedies that are taking place in Scotland. Without knowing that his own family has been slain Macduff says, " Each new morn/ New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows/ Strike heaven on the fac...
Another example of the ironic situations in this noel is when Jack wants to send a letter to the television show character Dora. Although Dora lives in the TV world Jack believes that writing letters on toilet paper and flushing them down the toilet will send the letters into the sea which only exists in the TV world. This is ironic because if Jack does not live in the TV world, then how it is possible to send letters to a place that does not exist. Because of living five years in this single room it is hard for Jack to be able to see and understand the
An occasion when someone would have told me I’m logical is when I play soccer. In the game there are common rules that everyone knows. One of the rules is the offsides rule, which states that the player of the opposing team must stand slightly beside or behind one of the defenders or else the side referees will call offside every time. This applies to me, since I played in a youth team and every time they would pass me the ball I would be called on for being offside, and the coach would keep on telling me to get behind the last player because it’s the most common rule, but the easiest to break.
One case of irony is in chapter 23, when Pym sees writing on the wall. Peters suggests that the writings are hieroglyphics. Pym immediately shuts Peter’s opinion down. However, we find out in the author’s note, at the end of the novel, that Peters was in fact correct. Another way that Poe uses irony is after the when Pym and Peters are hiding. Pym says that they are the only two white men on the whole island. However, in past chapters Pym tells the readers that Peters is half Native American. Since Peters is the Pym’s last companion, Pym refers to Peters in a higher standard than he did in past chapters. This shows Pym’s unconscious thoughts about race. He was very quick to use suggestive language. Another case of irony, is where they sit down to eat with the natives and turn down the food simply due to the look of it. However, in past chapters they were starving and resulted in eating their friend Parker. On the issue of cannibalism, and how it relates to irony is due to the fact the Parker is the one that suggested the idea. Although he suggested the idea, one would think that he would be safe and someone else would be eaten, but he is the one that gets eaten. One last bit of irony used in this novel is the fact that the two leaders have made an agreement regarding the sea cumbers. However, as they were about to leave they were ambushed and killed. The only two survives are Pym and
One example of dramatic irony is when Oedipus is looking for the killer of the king Laius-his father. The irony here is that he is looking for himself because he is the murder of his father. Oedipus knows that he killed someone, but what he does not know is that it was Laius, the one he murder. Oedipus wants to punish the person who killed Laius, but we, the audience know that Oedipus was the one who killed Laius. Also Oedipus married Jocasta without knowing that she is his mother. We, the audience knew that he was Jocasta's son, but he was unaware of that.
Poe uses the literary element of dialogue to create irony in his story. For example, in the catacombs, Montresor gives the bottle of Médoc to Fortunato and he starts to drink it. Fortunato replies with a toast: “I drink… to the buried that repose around us” (Poe 211). The irony of Fortunato’s toast is that he is giving a toast to his death. Fortunato later gets buried with the same people who he thought weren’t good enough. Another example of an ironic dialog is when Fortunato refuses Montresor’s proposal to go back to the surface because of Fortunato’s abrupt cough. A proposal to return to the surface due to Fortunato’s coughing was rejected with Fortunato’s reasoning: “…the a cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of
One of the most important examples of irony shown in the story is Fortunato himself. Fortunato’s name derives from the word fortunate yet this is an example of situational irony because as the plot progresses, Fortunato is indeed unfortunate (John). Montresor has
Poe often uses words and actions to imply the opposite of their literal meanings. This is called irony, something that seems deliberately contrary to what someone expects. Two types of irony that exist in the story are Situational Irony and Verbal Irony.
Another illustration of irony is the way Nora treats her children as if they were dolls. This is situational irony because Nora is treated like a doll by her husband, and by her father when he was alive. She says "I passed out of Daddy's hands into yours.