When one is reading pieces of literature, irony often sticks out but sometimes it does not. When writing a story, allowing for irony to be present interest the reader. It allows for the story to be interesting and not have a dull moment. Irony is sometimes interpreted as something serious which defeats the whole purpose of using the literary term. Irony “consists of saying the opposite of what you mean or inviting an interpretation different from the surface meaning of your words.” (Lodge 179) In David Lodge’s chapters, he often begins with a story. The story he began with in this chapter is one by Arnold Bennet, the author of “The Old Wives Tale”. The reason Lodge choose to start with a story in the beginning of this chapter and most of the other chapters was because it talks about two ways irony can be portrayed. There are three types of irony: dramatic, verbal, and situational. In this chapter, dramatic irony is used which is “when the reader is made aware of a disparity between the facts of a situation and the characters’ understanding of it.” (Lodge 179). Verbal irony is when the character says something but means someone else and situation irony is when something is expected to happen, but the opposite happens.
Kate Chopin uses the themes of traditional ideas and morality a lot in her stories. When reading her work, the reader expects something to happen, but the opposite happens. This is an example of situational irony. A certain situation is expected to happen, but the opposite happens. An example of this is in “A Pair of Silk Stockings”, a woman finds fifteen dollars which was equivalent to a hundred dollars our time. Chopin writes: “But it was during the still hours of the night when she lay awake revolving plans in her mind that she seemed to see her way clearly toward a proper and judicious use of the money” (Chopin,1) When reading that line, and the following lines, the reader expects the character to buy items that her children need, but that is not what happens. She goes and treats herself out to lunch at a fancy restaurant and a pair of silk stockings. Another example of irony in Chopin’s stories is in “The Story of an Hour”. Chopin writes: “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” The story is about an old woman whose husband is “killed” and how her family is afraid for the old women because of the husband’s death. The old woman is ecstatic but does not let it show until she goes to her room and keeps saying the word “free” all over again. Shortly after she locks herself in the room, her husband returns and is not dead, but as they open the door to the room, they find the women has died from a heart attack because of the joy she felt of her husband’s death. Chopin uses irony to break the norm and allow for the reader to realize that they need to think outside of the box as everyone does not react/do something the same way.
Irony plays a huge part of any creative story. This is because irony allows the reader to bond or connect with the charters. It allows for the reader to know how the character truly feels and what the character’s intentions are.
Five Element Mountain 