Irony is a literary device where the intended meaning is opposite to what is being said. It creates a sense of complicity between author and reader, provoking deeper analysis. Irony is often more effective than direct statements and is related to sarcasm. Examples can be found in literature and everyday speech.
Irony is a figure of speech in which the meaning intended by the author or speaker is the opposite of what is being stated. A method of evoking humor, irony in literature is often like a private joke that creates a sense of complicity between author and reader. In effect, the author is telling the reader, “I know you’re smart enough to figure out what’s really going on here.” Irony in literature is intended to provoke the reader to think deeper and analyze a situation. By comparing and contrasting reality with assumptions about reality, the reader is able to arrive at a better understanding of the author’s intent.
The rhetorical device of irony in literature is often much more effective than a direct statement. A classic example of the use of irony in literature can be found in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, an American novel set in a small Alabama town in the 1930s. During a current affairs lesson, Miss Gates, the local school teacher, leads the class in a discussion about the rise of Nazism in Germany and the persecution of the Jewish people. Miss Gates told the class that only those who are prejudiced persecute people, unlike those they used to live with. Pleased and at ease with her in her support of the Jewish people, she is totally unable to see the irony of her comments in light of her extreme prejudice against the city’s black residents.
Irony is common in everyday speech and is closely related to sarcasm, a harsh or bitter statement that often points out some sort of contradiction. Entertainers and comedians often use both irony and sarcasm to incite laughter. Comedian Bill Cosha used irony to great effect in “The Baffling Question,” an essay in which he discussed the serious problems that arise when raising children. The puzzling question to which the title of the essay refers is the question of whether to have children or not. Cosha reveals that carrying on the family name was a major reason for her wanting a child, but after the trials and tribulations of raising her son, Cosha confessed that she sometimes told her son not to reveal his true identity.
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