The novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury is an outstanding book that demonstrates a lot of irony. Irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect, according to Oxford Dictionaries. There are three types of irony. which are verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. In most cases, verbal irony is referred more to when words express something contrary to what someone says. Situational irony is irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. dramatic irony is used a lot within books, plays, and movies. It is when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of. Within this paper, I will demonstrate on how Ray Bradbury utilizes irony within the novel Fahrenheit 451.
The literary element irony is mostly used in the short story “What happened during the Ice Storm?” originally the boys wanted to hurt the pheasants like the author says, “They stood over the pheasants, turning their own heads, looking at each other, each expecting the other to do something. To pounce on a pheasant, or to yell Bang!” This quote is important because it showed the boys original intent; which was to hurt or kill the pheasants. Then they saw the condition the pheasants were in, as the author puts it, "They looked like unborn birds glazed in egg whites.” Which made the boys believe that the pheasants were innocent and that they could not do such a thing to something as fragile. When they saw the pheasants condition they decided to give the pheasant their coats, “He covered two of the crouching pheasants with his coat, rounding the back of it over them like a shell.” The pheasants were too fragile to hurt them, and they thought that they couldn’t do
Kate Chopin and Roald Dahl both use irony as well as similar themes of betrayal and heartbreak to motion their two very different storylines forward. Though the works take place in antithetical eras, each holds a similar calamity that results in the breaking up of the protagonists and soon to be antagonists. These moments of heartache hold relevance due to their unfortunate relatableness in today 's society. Upon further inspection of the themes and irony in Lamb to the Slaughter, and Desiree’s Baby, the reader can better understand the possible cruelties a relationship can hold as well as it 's sometimes unavoidable hardships.
The mysterious story “Invitation to Murder” is written by Josh Pachter. Within the story, Josh Pachter incorporated a numerous amount of events that involve situational irony. Such as, the weapons that were displayed on the table near Mr. Abbott. Upon the table rested a long bladed kitchen knife, a thin strand of wire with a wooden handle attached to each end, a length of iron pipe, an amber bottle labeled with a grinning skull and crossbones, and a revolver. The situational irony was that the weapons were meant to kill, but one of those very objects was needed to sustain Mr. Abbott’s dwindling life force. Due to Mr. Abbott’s unfortunate skiing accident he was forced to lie dormant with a ruptured mind, and needed the liquid in the skull and crossbones bottle; it was toxic to most healthy beings. It was ironic because a deadly poison was need to prolong the life of Mr. Abbott. Situational irony is used periodic throughout “Invitation to Murder”.
Situational irony occurs when the final outcome of a story is contradictory to what is expected. Authors often use situational irony to target the emotions of their reader. O. Henry the author of “The Ransom of Red Chief” and Guy de Maupassant the author of “The Necklace” use situational irony to affect different emotions of their readers. O. Henry uses it to target the reader’s humorous side. Whereas Guy de Maupassant uses it to target the reader’s sympathetic side. By examining “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” it is clear that the authors use situational irony to target the emotions of the reader.
“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. It is about an annual lottery in which the winner shall be executed. Problems arise when the winner does not agree with the decision. It all goes downhill from there. Shirley Jackson uses literary devices such as symbolism, tone and irony which make the story more detailed and entertaining.
Kate Chopin and Roald Dahl both use irony as well as similar themes of betrayal and heartbreak to motion their two very different storylines forward. Though the works take place in antithetical eras, each holds a similar calamity that results in the breaking up of the protagonists and soon to be antagonists. These moments of heartache hold relevance due to their unfortunate relatableness in today 's society. Upon further inspection of the themes and irony in Lamb to the Slaughter, and Desiree’s Baby, the reader can better understand the possible cruelties a relationship can hold as well as it 's sometimes unavoidable hardships.
Situational irony is when events happen that seem to be the opposite of what is expected. For example, in O.Henry’s short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” he uses situational irony to create humor for his audience. Also in Guy de Maupassant short story “The Necklace” he uses situational irony to produce a feeling of sympathy. By examining these two short stories, it is clear that author’s utilize situational irony to affect the reader’s emotions
Surprise in a story can create a whole new feeling. It can make the story funny such as in “The Ransom of Redchief” by O. Henry. It can also cause the tone to be sad and make the reader feel sympathy for specific characters like in “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Authors use situational irony to cause these feelings. In these two short stories, both authors display situational irony to create emotions for the reader.
To create an intriguing story, authors often use situational irony. Situational irony is when the opposite of what the readers expect to happen occurs in a story. This creates an element of surprise. In “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, situational irony generates a humorous effect. However, Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony in the necklace so that the reader feels sorry for the main character in “The Necklace”. These two stories emphasis how authors use situational irony to affect the audience’s emotions.
Lamb to slaughter by Roald Dahl displays dramatic Irony in the story. Dramatic Irony is when the reader is more aware of what is occurring than the characters are. For instance, Mary Maloney, a main character throughout the text giggles at the fact that the policemen were eating the evidence of a murder, that she had committed. This is stated when one of the police officers said that the murder weapon is right under their noses. “Personally, they thought it's right here on the premises. Probably right under their very noses”.(18)Therefore, this is dramatic Irony due to the fact that the readers know exactly what the murder weapon is, while the police do not know. Another example is when Patrick Maloney, another main character said “do not
In this world, people advance over their lives into what others recognize as positions of power. Some of these positions include leaders of any group, CEOs, Presidents, elected officials and more. In this day and age, it is easy to believe they are inherently better than normal people, smarter, harder working, or better looking. However this is not the case. Roald Dahl expresses the important theme that people outside of positions of power can be stronger than they appear by exquisitely using dramatic irony, characterization, and situational irony in his short story “Lamb to the Slaughter.”
In this story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, ambiguity was used because throughout the story we question ourselfs about situations. There are three types of irony but only two were utilized in this story. The two types of irony that were utilized were Situational and Dramatic irony. The most utilized one in the story is Dramatic Irony.
The last similarity is irony. “The Lottery” is supposed to be a good thing for people, but the prize is anything but good; rather the “winner” ends up dying. In the “Lamb of the Slaughter” a lamb to the Slaughter usually refers the someone who is unaware they are about to be harmed, since lambs are innocent. They are unaware of what is to become of them, lambs are easily led to slaughter.
Irony In the book Animal Farm the entire story is a metaphor to the Russian Revolution. For an example the pigs Napoleon and Snowball represent Stalin and Trotsky or the Battle of the Windmill represents World War II. The one thing that does not have a very clear meaning is the