Examples Of Irony In The Interlopers

In “The Interlopers”, irony is a key element the author Saki uses to convey the theme that when people hold grudges, the outcome of the feud is often tragic. The story tells of two rivaling families who lived in the Carpathian mountains, the Gradwitz and Znaeym families. The families quarrel began over the strip of land in between their properties. Both men claimed the land belonged to him and wanted all of it for himself. In the end there was lawsuit stating the land rightfully belonged to the Gradwitzes. Znaeym became angry because he thought it was unfair and so he began to hunt illegally on Gradwitz’s land. In return Gradwitz began to despise Znaeym for poaching on his land, a serious crime at the time, which was the root for the struggle

This is an example of situational irony because the outcome of the situation is the opposite of what was expected. Since Ulrich believed the man was poaching on his land and the fact Ulrich was armed the most likely outcome of the situation would be Ulrich going to shoot and kill Georg. However, the actual resolution was a tree fell on top of the men and trapped them there together, forcing Ulrich and Georg to settle their differences and become friends. Unfortunately by that point it was too late and the land they fought over for so long was the cause of their unfortunate fate.
Another use of irony is when Ulrich and Georg finally resolve their conflict by deciding to be friends and work together to call to their men for help. Ulrich shows his forgiveness when he offers Georg wine and promises “If my men are the first to come you shall be the first to be helped, as though you were my guest.” (para 19) Humbled by Ulrich reaching out to him