Situational Irony In The Story Of The Good Little Boy

Situational irony is a type of irony that compares the expectations for an event and the real outcome. Situational irony is most times humorous, and this witty irony is present in both Young Goodman Brown and A Cask of Amontillado. Hawthorne’s work, Young Goodman Brown, refers to the concept of heaven and hell, specifically the devil. When Goodman leaves his wife, Faith, to go on a journey, he worries for her. He justifies himself by saying “Well, she’s a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven,” (Hawthorne 3). This quote alone has 3 examples of situational irony. First, his wife’s name, Faith, symbolizes how he leaves his town for the devil, and that he is leaving his faith behind. Secondly, Goodman never truly finds out

In O. Henry's story, “The Ransom of the Red Chief,” eight distinct examples of irony are present throughout the entire selection. O. Henry writes with both situational and verbal irony, which results in a comedic account of a rowdy boy's kidnapping. Situational irony involves an event in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended. Verbal irony is when the intended meaning of a statement differs from the meaning that the words appear to express. There are three examples of verbal irony and five examples of situational irony in “The Ransom of the Red Chief.”

Another example of irony would be the Story of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In this story, Adam and Eve have eternal life and God tells them not to eat the fruit from the tree, because it would kill them. The Devil convinces Eve that the fruit could make her and Adam like God, so they consume one of the fruits from the tree. This causes the two to lose their eternal life. The story shows irony in the same way that “Lamb to the Slaughter” does, because the fruit was supposed to give the two life but ended up taking it

Khlaed Hosseini uses expresses the beauty of irony throughout his famous novel, The Kite Runner. There are many instances throughout the novel in which events seem to be leaning one way and then suddenly change, unfortunately for the worse. These examples include experiences with Baba, Amir and Hassan. Hosseini’s use of irony really hooks the reader, leaving an unpredictable series of events for Amir and Hassan.

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

In the very beginning of the story, Jonathan Harker is traveling to Dracula’s castle in place of his boss who couldn’t go. His intentions are good so he can help his boss and make some money off of the land he is planning to sell, however his intentions get turned around when Dracula traps him inside the castle and he fears for his life. These are examples of situational irony.

Situational irony is when the situation is the opposite of what is expected. One example of this is how the townspeople see Dimmesdale as a holy, pure role model, when he is the opposite. After one of his sermons, the audience said “never had man spoken in so wise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spake this day (222).” This irony between the townspeople and the Reverend Dimmesdale shows Hawthorne’s views on the Puritan society. They portray a religious, pure character, when they are actually sinful and corrupt. Another example of situational irony is when the townspeople give Hester the scarlet A to represent her sin of adultery. Later in the book, many people saw the scarlet A as meaning able because of the strength Hester has shown throughout her life. “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength (146).” Not only are the people of the community seeing Hester’s scarlet letter to mean something else, but the letter itself is beautiful. That “scarlet letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell (51).” The townspeople allowed the scarlet A to look beautiful and have a magical effect, but represent a dark and sinful act. The irony here shows Hawthorne viewing the Puritans as corrupt by making them contradict themselves and by not allowing their punishment system to have its intended effect. Overall, Hawthorne uses

How would you feel if you tried you’re hardest to be good but only had bad things happen to you? It simply wouldn’t seem fair. This was the case for Jacob Blivens whom, “The Story of the Good Little Boy” was fictionally about. Try as he might nothing works out in the end for Jacob which is a lesson we all could learn from. You can do your best to achieve something but it doesn’t mean that in the end it will work out how you want it to. Twain’s opinion that Jacob lives his life for an unrealistic dream comes out in his use of diction, characterization, and irony.

The definition of irony is a contrast between two things. One example is verbal irony. It is a contrast between what someone says and what one means, while dramatic irony is a contrast between what the characters know to be true and what the readers know to be true. Many writers use irony in their short stories to prove a dramatic point, or just to develop a story for upcoming use. These short stories by Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (140), Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” (183), and Stephen Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” (229), spin a tale of symbolic irony. Each tell a tale paradoxical twists with sublime contradiction where one is led to believe one side of an event, yet it is dragged down a twisted trail of mental sarcasms coupled with death. It is a known fact that many tales of irony require many major events to twist the order they are written in to create a viewpoint that stride away from the main topic or where the author wants the reader to end up.

Situational irony to be exact. Situational irony being the outcome of a problem not being the expected one. John

Irony in stories can make it funnier, more interesting, or exciting to read. With some types of irony you can get that sort of suspense to the story. Irony can be in a views in a couple ways; you can have situational when you expect something to happen and the total opposite happens, then you have verbal irony, which is when someone says one thing, but something different is really meant. Then there is dramatic irony, which is when the audience knows but not the character does not. In “Good Country People” (O’Connor 116) there are two types of irony: Situational and dramatic irony. Some of the points of irony in the story are the names in the story including the title, the characters, and the central plot of the story.

The irony has taught me about love and sacrifice. An example in the story of dramatic irony was Della and Jim opening their gifts to each other. Della received a set of tortoiseshell combs, but she forgot her hair was not long enough to wear the combs. An example of a situational irony was Jim coming home and sees Della’s hair cut short. When Jim bought the combs, he did not expect Della to sell her treasured possession.

"Humor brings insight and tolerance. Irony brings a deeper and less friendly understanding." (Repplier) Irony, more specifically situational irony, is in any given circumstance when actions are taken that are contrary to original beliefs. When placed in a story the irony involves the characters' actions and the final outcome or ending of the novel. In the short story, "Good Country People", O'Connor deliberately uses irony with characters actions and thoughts, or vice versa, to lead the reader to the wrong assumption.

Mark Twain’s “The Story of the Good Little Boy” is a short story about an ambitious and self righteous boy who acts on behalf of his own selfish motives. Jacob Blivens puts so much effort into trying to be “good,” but was never recognized for it. As touching as this may seem, the little boy might not have been as good as he seemed. Throughout the short story his intentions came back to bite him when he tried to get a book written about himself. Mark Twain brought out a strong plot and sequence of events that eventually lead Jacob to his death bed.

From printing books, to captain of a ship, to father of American literature Mark Twain is known for his incredible novels and short story. In Twain short story The Story of the Good Little Boy , Jacob Blivens is child defined by the church books he asserts, which separate him from the Norms of Reality. Society the antagonist, Jacob innocence blind him from making out the truth of the cruel and harsh world. Living in a world opposite from the church books, mark twain uses situational Irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism to convey that putting on the best thing doesn't always mean doing the right thing. Jacobs constant struggle in life is due to his abnormality that cause him to fail and see the truth.