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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
Verbal Irony
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:
“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.
When Mel metaphorically refers to himself as “just a mechanic,” he is using verbal irony, saying that as a surgeon he merely “fuck[s] around and fix[es] things” inside a patient’s body in the same way that a mechanic tinkers with the parts inside of a car. Both Terri and Nick (the narrator) notice here that Mel—who went through medical school and rigorous surgical training—is being intentionally (and disingenuously) self-disparaging, with Terri telling Mel that “modesty doesn’t become [him]” and Nick sarcastically calling Mel a “humble sawbones.”
It is notable that, with the character of Mel, Carver is suggesting, in some ways, that he is just a mechanic. As a cardiologist, Mel understands the human heart in a practical and rational way, but not in a deeper or more emotional way. He has been talking about love all night but doesn’t seem any closer to expressing—or embodying—it, as seen in his passive-aggressive response to his wife and his mistreatment of her throughout the story.
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:
"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.
Terri uses verbal irony here when mocking Mel for his focus on seatbelt safety. When she says "Folks, this is an advertisement for the National Safety Council" and pretends to be speaking from Mel’s perspective, she is ironically pointing out how strange it is for Mel to be speaking at this casual gathering with their friends about the importance of seatbelts. Terri makes her sarcastic intentions clear by then telling Mel directly, “[S]ometimes you’re just too much.”
Here, as elsewhere in the story, Terri seems to be drawing Nick and Laura’s attention to the fact that she is aware that Mel is drunk and not behaving appropriately. Carver juxtaposes the messy relational dynamic between Terri and Mel with the easeful and loving dynamic between Nick and Laura, suggesting that couples who speak less (and don’t try to perform their love or put it into words) can sometimes actually communicate (and embody) their love more deeply and effectively.
Related Themes:
