The Guest by Albert Camus

Throughout “Ransom of the Red Chief”, situational irony is a reoccurring theme. After first deciding to kidnap a boy in the town of Summit, Alabama, Bill and Sam settle on the only child of wealthy Mr. Dorset. After grabbing the boy, the kidnappers soon find out that Johnny is the most difficult hostage ever to be handled. After many days suffering through the make-believe games Johnny devises, Sam finally sends a ransom demand to the father. Knowing his son’s behavior well, the father counters the offer with a proposal of his own. In his proposal, Mr. Dorset writes, “You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and I agree to take him off your hands” (Henry 18). These words are ironic because the author has flipped expectations with the kidnappers paying to get rid of their hostage. This example of situational irony helps to enhance the story as it further illustrates the desperation of the two kidnappers to rid themselves of Johnny, even if it means paying money out of their own pocket.

In The Stranger by Albert Camus, the murder committed by Meursault is questionably done with no reason. Although the entirety of the second part is spent in society’s attempts to find a cause, Meursault has a durable existential mentality that proves that even he knows that there is no true reason for the crime. Through the use of light and heat imagery and diction in The Stranger, Albert Camus comments on the duality of society trying to find a cause for the murder and Meursault defying this because of his existential mentality. These elements heighten Meursault’s negative outlook on life by

In The Stranger, Albert Camus describes the life of the protagonist, Meursault, through life changing events. The passage chosen illustrates Meursault’s view during his time in prison for killing the Arab. In prison, one can see the shifts in Meursault’s character and the acceptance of this new lifestyle. Camus manipulates diction to indicate the changes in Meursault caused by time thinking of memories in prison and realization of his pointless life. Because Camus published this book at the beginning of World War II, people at this time period also questions life and death similar to how Meursault does.

The story “The cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe already starts with irony in the first sentence; “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”. By using irony the author allows readers to have different interpretations of his story; for example Poe’s antagonist characters has the name of Fortunado. He is the one that is murdered in the end, thus demonstrating that he is not as fortunate as his name seems to indicate. Bella Wang and Amelia Tibbett exemplify this by saying, in her analysis of Poe’s story; “Poe gives the victim the name of Fortunato, which may mean "fortunate" in Italian, but adds an extra element of cynical humor to Fortunato 's jovial and unsuspecting character.” (Wang) and also “the word "luckily" also recalls the meaning of Fortunato 's name and is thus entirely unfitting for Fortunato 's fate.” (Wang). Moreover, in her analysis of the text, Amelia Tibbett confirms the fact that the reader has a kind of freedom in interoperating the story; Poe cleverly weaves this story so that he has perfect control over the narrative, all the while allowing the reader some freedom in their own interpretations. (Tibbett).

In the novel The Meursault Investigation, Kamel Daoud weaves a sister story for Albert Camus’s The Stranger, and has a dialogue of sorts with Camus. At times Daoud’s novel is very critical of Camus, standing in opposition to the attitudes and themes in The Stranger. The existence of The Meursault Investigation and the character of Musa is a criticism of the incomplete picture that Camus paints in his story, and the namelessness of “The Arab” that Meursault killed. Daoud gives a name to Meursault’s victim beyond that of “The Arab.” At other times, Daoud’s book parallels a lot of the ideas put forth by Camus. This can be seen as Harun slowly comes to resemble the man who killed his brother after committing a murder

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.

Charles Darnay, Evremonde as we know him, is a rich leader of France. On the other hand, a lawyer, whose name is Sydney Carton, seems to not care about anyone but himself. However, when he met Lucie Manette, his life was changed a little bit and added her in his circle of obligation. Both of these guys, in our case Charles Darnay

In the story,"Camp Harmony" by Monica Sone, the author uses irony in a few different ways. One example of irony in the story is,"...we noticed at the left of us an entire block filled with neat rows of low shacks, resembling chicken houses. Someone commented on it with awe,"Just look at all those chicken houses. They sure go in for poultry in a big way here." This statement is ironic because the people who await their fate at the camps think that they are going to a happier place than they had previously been at. The reality of the situation though is that the "chicken houses" they are seeing, are about to be their new home. There is a contrast between what is expected, and what actually happens. The author conveys the irony of the name "Camp

One of the first examples of irony Poe utilizes in his story involves the situational irony of the title. Situational irony is when something turns out to be the opposite of what is expected. The title, “The Cask of Amontillado”, leads a reader to believe that such a wine container or crate exists in

Literary elements vary in different kinds of stories and some are more effective than others. The irony is a literary element that shocks a reader at the end of the story with an unexpected event. A story with the element “Irony” can go from good to bad or from bad to good, depending on the type of story. For stories that deal with life and death, irony can enhance that topic. Such as when the author gives us a situation we feel is death related and then later the author makes us change our mind about a life situation. This element can be shown in both “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and “The Interlopers” by Saki (H. H. Munro).However, Saki uses irony much more effectively in ‘The Interlopers”

For instance, when the readers think of a National Guard, one would imagine him or her as keeping the peace in a violent situation. However, in this case the National Guard ends up getting beat up by a civilian. This is portrayed when Alexie writes, “In his hands my father holds a rifle above his head, captured in that moment just before he proceeded to beat the shit out of the National Guard private lying prone on the ground” (Alexie 25). This displays situational irony because the reader expects the National Guard to protect everyone from violence, but he is the one who ends up getting hurt. Another instance where situational irony is displayed in this short story is when the mother and father are discussing heroes. One would expect a person’s hero to be intelligent, successful, and a person of many talents. Contrary to this belief, Victor’s hero is a rock star who had many personal problems and died a terrible death. This is shown when the story says, “’Only the good die young,’ my father

In the book “ The Book Thief “ irony is used a great deal of the time. Irony is an event that is different than what you would expect to happen. The book thief is about an orphan who lives with a family while the Holocaust is happening, the story is told by Death.

Albert Camus in The Stranger demonstrates how in French-occupied Algeria, Meursault, a French colonist, is on trial for his inconsiderate behavior in regards to his mother’s death, rather than being convicted for the murder of an Arab man. Over the course of the novel, Camus illustrates how this French-colonized society frequently takes advantage of Arabs, explicitly making note of the embedded racism during 1830 to 1962. In doing so, he makes apparent the demeaning attitudes towards Arabs; whereas Meursault does not undergo any reciprocated aggression for the crime he commits, alternatively being treated as a free man. As he internally becomes accountable for his actions, Camus insinuates how the white population is not aware of the present racial inequality until put in situations similar to those oppressed.

In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault the protagonist, becomes drawn into a “senseless” murder that has to face the absurdity of life and because of his actions, Meursault is presented as a danger due to his lack of “morality” to society. Meursault who is not able to take control of his life but respond to what life offers him believes in the simplicity of life. He tries to understand the living through logic and objectivity, which ultimately turns futile, as he himself cannot maintain proper control over his thoughts and emotions. From the interactions between Marie, to the murder of the Arab, and the meeting with the Chaplain, Meursault overcomes his indifferent views to form an opinion about what life really means. The central theme presented by Camus is how the threat of mortality becomes a catalyst for understanding the significance of life.

This easy-going, pleasant hedonism is interrupted permanently by Meursault's murder of the Arab on the beach. Not only is he incarcerated, but also he must examine the reality behind the illusion of his trial and, ultimately, of his life. Introspection has not been his metier. It takes him a while to realize that the judge, the jury, the journalists, even his own lawyer, do not wish him well. Meursault finally realizes that he is going to be convicted, not because he killed an Arab but because he did not mourn his mother's death.