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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
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Mel’s Aggression:
In an example of situational irony, Mel clearly expresses at the start of the story his belief that love and violence cannot coexist (telling his wife Terri that what she had with her abusive ex-boyfriend Ed “was not love”) before later behaving in violent ways toward Terri while telling her that he loves her. The irony of Mel’s actions comes across in the following passage, which follows Mel's story about an elderly couple who survive a car accident because of their love for each other:
Mel said, "I was going to tell you about something. I mean, I was going to prove a point. You see, this happened a few months ago, but it's still going on right now, and it ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we're talking about when we talk above love."
"Come on now," Terri said. "Don't talk like you're drunk if you're not drunk.”
"Just shut up for once in your life," Mel said very quietly. "Will you do me a favor and do that for a minute?”
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Mel the Mechanic:
Near the end of the story, a drunken Mel uses the word “vessel” when he means to say “vassal,” and Terri corrects him. In his passive-aggressive response to his wife’s correction, Mel metaphorically refers to himself as “just a mechanic,” using this metaphor as a form of verbal irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“All right,” Mel said. “So I’m not educated. I learned my stuff, I’m a heart surgeon, sure, but I’m just a mechanic. I go in and fuck around and fix things. Shit,” Mel said.
“Modesty doesn’t become you,” Terri said.
“He’s just a humble sawbones,” I said.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—National Safety Council:
During Mel’s story about the elderly couple he treated who were badly injured in a car accident, he notes that their seatbelts likely saved their lives. His wife Terri then interrupts him, using verbal irony to comment on this statement, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"I'd say she was worse off than he was. Ruptured spleen along with everything else. Both kneecaps broken. But they'd been wearing their seatbelts and, God knows, that's what saved them for the time being."
"Folks, this is an advertisement for the National Safety Council," Terri said. "This is your spokesman, Dr. Melvin R. McGinnis, talking." Terri laughed. “Mel,” she said, "sometimes you're just too much. But I love you, hon," she said.
Related Themes:
