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Definition of Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean... read full definition
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Releasing Room:
In Chapter 4, Jonas discusses Release with Larissa. Their conversation contains dramatic irony and verbal irony that work together to reveal the start of a power struggle between individual citizens and the Committee:
Jonas grinned. “I wish I’d been there to see [the Release].”
Larissa frowned. “I don’t know why they don’t let children come. Not enough room, I guess. They should enlarge the Releasing Room.”
“We’ll have to suggest that to the committee. Maybe they’d study it,” Jonas said slyly, and Larissa chortled with laughter.
Neither Jonas nor Larissa knows exactly what happens when someone is Released. Larissa is able to tell Jonas about the ceremony that took place before her friend Roberto was led to a private room to be Released (i.e., killed). Only members of the Committee have ever been inside the private room. Jonas wishes he had been allowed to attend the ceremony at least. This comment makes Larissa "frown" and realize, it seems, that she has never thought about why children are kept away from these ceremonies. She explains it away as a practical matter of room capacity. However, her frown indicates that she has had an uncomfortable realization. The Committee has been gatekeeping Release for some reason that they have not made clear to the public.
Jonas makes light of the tense situation by joking that they should ask the Committee to consider enlarging the Releasing Room. "Maybe they'd study it," he says. Both Jonas and Larissa know that Jonas is being sarcastic. It is a running joke in the Community that the Committee "studies" difficult questions not to find the answers, but rather to avoid answering the questions altogether. When the Committee says it must "study" a question, everyone knows that they will set it aside until everyone forgets that they were waiting for an answer. Jonas's verbal irony diffuses the tension and allows him and Larissa to laugh together over a frustrating situation. At the same time, it also allows them to indirectly discuss some shared skepticism over the Committee's honesty and effectiveness. Open critique of the Committee is not yet possible in the Community, but Jonas and Larissa use laughter to find allies in one another.
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