The Use Of Irony In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” irony is applied throughout to help foreshadow future and give more of an insight to the readers, all while adding some humor. Irony is divided into three main types: dramatic, situational, and verbal.

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

Irony is the most powerful literary device used in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. First, a good example of irony in the story is “They were burdened with sashweights sand bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” (P,2 Line, 11-13) This quote is Ironic as it tells how this system was designed to hide beauty, yet beauty was still shown by the amount of restraints on the person. Second, another good example of irony is, “The spectacles were intended to make him not only half-blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.”(P,11 Line,4) This is an example of how gifted people’s lives were harder than

The irony is well woven within Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, but before going into how it is used in the novel let's take a look at the different types of Irony. First, it is important to understand that irony is expressing a meaning by using language that is opposite. Situational irony occurs when the audience or the reader has expectations of what is going to happen and what happens instead is the opposite. For example, a fire station burning down. Dramatic irony occurs when the significance of a character's words, intention, and actions are known to the audience or reader but not the other characters. For example, the relationship between Robert and Edna continues to grow and we know that, but not Mr. Pontellier. Verbal irony is when words

Fear is a natural instinct that could potentially save your life, but that doesn't mean it’s always a good thing. Fear can lead to paranoia or obsession, and then it can engulf your sanity. If you become so fearful in the face of danger it could possibly cause paralysis, cloud your rational thought, or cause you to faint. However, it could potentially save your life by holding you back from irrational acts, making your more alert, or offering restraining from making hazardous decisions. In the stories “The Tell Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Masque of Red Death,” the author, Edgar Allen Poe, uses figurative language, irony and symbolism to teach us that fean can distort the mind, and cause paranoia and obsession,

Irony is a literary figure of speech, oral or written used by writers and speakers to create suspense, contradiction for the readers and audience while they are longing for a different outturn in a piece of work. With irony, the intended purpose of the writer can’t be deduced from the literary meaning of the words, but from the contextual meaning of the whole passage or writing. Hence, irony can be further defined as writer’s choice of words that connotes the opposite of the literary meaning of the words chosen.

There are some parts in the maze runner that use irony to build tension. For instance when Minho and Alby go in to the maze to examine a dead Griever, they are willing to bring it back to the glade without any kind of problems. Instead of what was planned to happen the Griever is actually alive and then it injures Alby. This made the journey for them to come back to the glade very hard. This ends up being an opposite out come to what they had expected. This kind of situation is an irony. However Thomas decides to try and help Alby and Minho when they are trapped in the maze. Thomas though he and Minho could protect Alby form the Grievers. But Minho just runs away and Thomas is left alone to save Alby. This is demonstrated as situational irony. This proves that irony is active in many parts of the maze

For a moment he had forgotten all about the general manager.” This is not the only case in which Gregor chooses his family over work. He also makes a reference to this when he states, “For the time being, all such worries were assuredly unnecessary. Gregor was still here, and abandoning his family was the farthest thing from his thoughts.” He is willing to sacrifice anything in order to make his family happy, including himself.

Cruel actions lead to cruel endings. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist in Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis, is turned into a bug from the mental and emotional abuse by the hands of his own family. The cruelty in the Samsa household is apparent from the beginning of the storyline. Their neglect and lack of compassion for Gregor's condition immediately sets the dark and miserable mood of the novella. Gregor’s whole existence has been about caring for his family and making sacrifices for their well being. However, his family never realizes these sacrifices and takes Gregor for granted, ultimately leading to his painful demise. Gregors perpetual devotion to his harsh family represents the unconditional love one feels for their own flesh and blood no matter how wicked they may be.

Irony is often used in literature to illustrate certain situations to the audience. In some pieces of literature that might be pointing out an unjust system, in others that might be to add a comedic effect, but whatever situation the author wants to illustrate, irony is very beneficial. Through small and witty, one-liners, or a bigger dramatic irony situation contrasting two very different situations, irony can be very beneficial for the reader to understand the story. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins have a corrupt dystopian society. Through the use of irony, the author can portray the corruptness to the audience. Transition!!! Irony is used in both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger

Change occurs every day involuntarily. When people encounter change they are limited to only two points of views on it, negatively or positively. Some may react by panicking and going into denial whereas others may try to adapt to it and make the best out of the situation. It can affect one’s life drastically depending on the situation and how they portray it. In the movie “Rivers and Tides” and the story “Metamorphosis,” and the passage, “Simplexity”, change is initially portrayed as positive, but after a series of events it becomes overthrown by negativity. Overall, change is portrayed negatively by the authors.

Irony may appear in difference ways within literature. Irony changes our expectations of what might happen. It can create the unexpected twist at the end of a story or anecdote that gets people laughing or crying. Verbal irony is intended to be a humorous type of irony. Situational irony can be either funny or tragic. Dramatic irony is usually an over the top, tragic form of irony. Both Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” are great examples of an ironic situation. Every expresses the common theme in their own way. Although both of these literally pieces provide us with the theme of irony, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" gives the reader a sense of suspense with the irony that proves to be more effective.

In Roald Dahl’s riveting short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” dramatic irony is used to build tension. Dramatic irony is defined as a literary device where the reader knows more about a situation than the characters in the story. The main character Ms. Maloney, a devoted and tender wife, suddenly turns into a reckless murderer as her husband tells her he wants to leave. Throughout the narrative a prominent example of dramatic irony is when the policemen eat the leg of lamb. " ‘That's why the weapon should be easy to find.’ ‘Exactly what I say.’ ‘Whoever did it, he can't carry a weapon that big around with him.’ ‘Personally, I think the weapon is somewhere near the house.’ ‘It's probably right under our noses. What do you think, Jack?’ And in

Franz Kafka is a German novelist who wrote “The Metamorphosis.” In the story, he uses a third person point of view narrative. The novel uses absurdum, which exaggerates and dramatize the absurdity of modern life. The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, struggles with an external factor of transforming into an insect like creature. The transformation was not under his control and now struggles with a new identity. Once the sole provider for his family, he now becomes a burden. Internally, he is the same Gregor Samsa, but his physical appearance causes his family to alienate and mistreat him. The use of dehumanization is prevalent in the novel causing the protagonist to suffer with symptoms of depression. He is unable to be a positive contributor in society or for his family. The use of symbolism in the novel displays his isolation and humanity. The central conflict is resolved when his sister Grete, initially empathetic, comes to a realization that

When writing short stories authors can use irony as a reference to interpret and support parts of the work. The short story “The Eyes Have It” by Philip K. Dick is about a man who finds a book on the bus and interprets the idioms with in the book literally, which leads him to believe he has discovered another life form among earth. The author wrote this piece using irony through word play as a literary device. By taking something that is a normality in society, and twisting the words to be literal, the author displays that the words and phrases that are just supposed to commonly known ironically do not make any sense. “The Eyes Have It” concludes with the notion that the English vocabulary once ultimately registering it, can be quite strange.