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Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Troubled About My Soul
Explanation and Analysis—The Ridiculous Question:
At the beginning of the novel, Tish visits Fonny in jail to tell him she is pregnant. After she breaks the news, Fonny, still in a daze, asks Tish a "ridiculous question," to which she responds with her characteristic verbal irony:
He asked me the ridiculous question: "Are you sure?"
"No. I ain't sure. I'm just trying to mess with your mind."
Then he grinned. He grinned because, then, he knew. "What we going to do?" he asked me—just like a little boy.
"Well we ain't going to drown it. So, I guess we'll have to raise it."
Fonny threw back his head, and laughed, he laughed till tears come down his face. So, then, I felt that the first part, that I'd been so frightened of, would be all right.
Tish snaps back with a sarcastic quip: "I'm just trying to mess with your mind." This kind of ironic conversation is typical for Tish. She is very quick-witted, especially with Fonny, with whom she has made jokes since childhood. As such, this conversation, very early in the narrative, is important characterization for Fonny and Tish's relationship.
Tish's ironic statement defuses the situation. Once Fonny laughs, Tish knows that "the first part"—her pregnancy, and Fonny's reaction to it—"would be all right." This reiterates that an ironic conversation is central to their relationship. Fonny's familiar laughter thus establishes a whole backstory for these characters, implying years of sarcastic jokes before this one.
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