1984 - Irony

"'Who denounced you,' said Winston. 'It was my little daughter,' said Parsons... 'I don't bear her any grudge for it, in fact I'm proud of her...'" (233).

Parsons being sent to jail because of his daughter and him being accepting of it shows just how corrupt the government in 1984 is. It is a sad but true irony of this fictional world. Citizens have been so brainwashed that they go so far as to say they are proud of their own child for turning them in and getting them sent to the Ministry of Love. Children are taught to look out solely for themselves, even if that means betraying their own caregivers. They are animalistic and seek only self protection. Loving relationships are becoming more and more nonexistent as more generations appear. The only way a person can obtain full self protection is by doing everything possible to follow the Party and all of their rules, no matter what that entails. This fear and corruption causes the Party to gain more and more power as the future generations begin to populate society.

Situational Irony in "Hunters in the Snow"

"Hunters in the Snow" came to a very unexpected end. Kenny was shot by Tub and they laid him in the truck bed to take him to the hospital. Naturally, the reader expects Kenny to be taken directly to the hospital and treated. However, we learn in the last sentence that "they had taken a different turn a long way back," (201). This was definitely not what I expected to happen. I am very curious why they chose not to take him to the hospital. These men seem to have odd relationships with one another throughout the story. None of them really seem to me like that great of friends. I do not understand what made Tub and Frank come together over Kenny being shot.

Situational Irony in "How I Met My Husband"

Situational irony occurs in the last paragraph of "How I Met My Husband." Edie spends the majority of the story talking about Chris the pilot, and the reader assumes that she will be with him in the end. However, this was not the case. While waiting for a letter from Chris each day, Edie waits for the mail carrier and he believes she likes him. "He said he missed me...I went out with him for two years and he asked me to marry him..." (146). I was surprised at this ending, as the whole story was built on Edie's encounter with Chris. I feel that situational irony at the end of stories always adds something to the story as a whole. It gives it a more meaningful message that one should expect the unexpected.

Irony in "Lonely Hearts"

"Lonely Hearts" is set up like a newspaper ad which contains various requests for love in this poem. In each stanza, someone is asking for something different in a partner. The first seeks fun and adventure, the next companionship, followed by someone interesting, Jewish, and finally Libran. These requirements become rather picky and likely hard to find. However, despite the involvement of each description, each ends with the question, "Can someone make my simple wish come true?" I find it ironic that the speakers call their desires simple when in fact they are rather picky. If it were really a simple request they would be open to anyone from any background or upbringing. Hobbies or religion would not matter and love would be the only necessity if it were truly a simple request.

Irony in "Pink Dog"

Question 13: Point out and explain any examples of paradox, hyperbole, understatement, and irony. What is their function?

"Pink Dog" discusses individuals in poverty living on the Rio de Janeiro during the Carnival. The speaker seems to be complaining about the poor and their filth. The poor are referred to as dogs. They are considered less than the rest of the population.

"It's been in all the papers,

to solve this problem, how they deal with beggars?

They take them and throw them in the tidal rivers."

They are later referred to as "idiots, paralytics, parasites..." in line 16.

The irony occurs in the concluding stanza.

"Carnival is always wonderful!

A depilated dog would not look well.

Dress up! Dress up and dance at Carnival!"

The poor are not good enough to be among society, but for Carnival, the common people tell the poor to dress up and celebrate with them. I find it ironic that the poor are not good enough to be among society at any time throughout the year until Carnival. At this time, they are to dress up and celebrate. Otherwise they are "thrown in the tidal rivers."

Irony in "The Widow's Lament in Springtime"

Question 13: Point out and explain any examples of... and irony. What is their function?

"The Widow's Lament in Springtime" expressed what I feel is a rather ironic idea. Descriptions of spring usually cause a reader to make associations with new life, a new start, or an end to winter. However, the speaker of this poem associates spring with death, which is quite the opposite of the usual connection to new life.

"Masses of flowers

load the cherry branches

and color some bushes

yellow and some red

but the grief in my heart

is stronger than they..."

The speaker expresses much sorrow at the start of spring because of the memory of the death of her husband. The poem's irony, however, serves an important purpose which is to carry out the extent of which the speaker feels depressed over her loss. Even though there is new life around her and joy at the new season, she does not experience anything but death because she is unable to move on. As nature moves on from death to life from winter to spring, the speaker continues to dwell in her own personal "winter." She also has no intention of overcoming her sorrows, as she states at the end of the poem:

"I feel that I would like

to go there

and fall into those flowers

and sink into the marsh near them."