Irony And Paradox In Like The Sun

In the “Story of an Hour” we observe many instances in which irony takes place.

In the novel ‘’Night’’ Eliezer survives from Auschwitz and surprisingly almost dies from food poisoning.The irony in this is that he could of died many ways at Auschwitz but ultimately almost dies from food poisoning.That is also a form of situational irony meaning that the situation turns opposite of what you expect.Another example of situational irony in’’Night’’ is when Chlomo Wiesel makes a remark about the yellow Jewish star,mocking it by asking if its lethal,but wearing the yellow star is what kills him in the story.In this essay I’ll be giving you more three more examples of irony throughout the novel ‘’Night’’.

The two short stories “Like the Sun” by R. K. Narayan and “The Open Window” by Saki (H. H. Munro) the authors both use irony and paradox to explore ideas of honesty and deception. In this essay I will present some details from the two stories and how they relate to the ideas of irony and paradox. Both of the stories have different ways in which the characters go about using the two concepts.

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.

Although irony may be associated with negative events or actions, it can also be a sign of good for characters within stories. According to Dictionary.com, irony in literature is defined as “a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.” The use of irony is found within the novel The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini uses irony to portray and develop the main dynamic character in this story, Amir. Most of the major events Amir is faced with at a younger age seemingly come full circle when he reaches adulthood. Irony plays a role as Amir lives through tragic events that ultimately teach him how to become a better person.

"Irony is a device that protects him (the artist) from the pain of his experience so that he may use it objectively in his art(Susquehanna. "New Critical")." In The Glass Menagerie, it is ironic how Tom speaks badly of his father and his leaving home but in the end he leaves home just like his father, the man "in love with long distances (Williams 30)''. The fact that Amanda wants what is best for her children is ironic because she worries so much over it that she doesn't realize what is best for them.

It is often said that irony is the vital literary element to a story because it gives the story character. Whether it changes the mood, creates suspense, adds foreshadowing, engages the reader or something else, irony can do many things for a story.

Irony, a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. Throughout Night there is use of situational and verbal irony. This use of irony keeps the reader interested. The use of irony causes the reader to know things that the characters often are not aware of.

There are three types of Ironies employed in the novel: Dramatic irony, verbal irony, situational irony. Dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows the outcome of the situation while the character fails to perceive it. The most evident example of dramatic irony is seen in the first section with the reaction Moshe the Beadle receives upon coming back to Sighet. Moshe who lived through horrifying atrocity had only one desire of letting others know what horror awaited and wanted to help them escape. Yet, people’s reaction to him is that of distrust, derision and rebuff. It is particularly ironic as he sits broken not because of the Nazis but because of his own people. Another example of verbal irony is when, after the Jews are ordered to wear yellow stars, Elie's father says, "The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal…"(Wiesel, 11) the statement is ironic because that is exactly how Elie's father dies. The wearing of the yellow star was one step on the path to the concentration camps and almost certain

Select an ironic literary work and explain the multivocal nature of the irony in the work.

Imagine being branded and thinking nothing of it, where the brand is later used to designate you as a target, leading to death. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, there’s a fair amount of irony incorporated. Three examples of irony found in the text are the uses of gold stars to mark Jews and how Chlomo thought nothing of them, how the Jews originally thought of the forced evacuation to Auschwitz, and Madame Schacters speaking of fire. One example of irony, in this case being dramatic irony, is how the Jews were forced to wear yellow stars, branding them as Jewish. Most people, including Chlomo, thought that there was nothing wrong with wearing a star.

Authors use irony in literature in order to give double meanings and make it more interesting to the reader. In the play “ The Death of a Salesman” Arthur Miller uses irony as a strong writing technique in order to express the character's behavior. In “The Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller moments of situational and dramatic irony helps to illustrate the story's theme in which Willy is a man trying yo achieve the American dream, however he have created a world of illusion.

Without doubt, Edgar Allan Poe’s story is one of the author’s masterpiece. The story is an exhibit of artistic genius with various literary features well incorporated. Among them, irony, defined as, “A figure of speech which is a contradiction or incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs”, is the most evident. Allan Poe demonstrates the use of various types of irony throughout the play, which he uses to pass the intended message to the audience.

In the stories “Story of an Hour”, “Everyday Use”, “The Necklace”, and “The Lottery” it is evident that irony was quite a large part of the short story. There is situational irony, which is when the situation turns out differently than expected. Also, dramatic irony is present, which is when you as a reader knows more than the character. The authors seem to base their whole story around irony to surprise their readers.

People watch other individuals experience irony all the time. When something is ironic it means that the thing that was to happen, did not happen the way it was thought to happen. Sometimes irony happens to those who least expect it or irony happens to everyone. There have been songs, television ads, and stories written about irony or that have included ironic events or details. One piece of literature that contains a lot of irony is Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”. Crane uses irony in many different ways in the story to tell of four individuals who survive their ship being wrecked and everyone else aboard has drown.