Does F Scott Fitzgerald Use Dramatic Irony In The Camel's Back

Irony is a literary technique used by many authors throughout the American Literature, as it allows the author to develop a meaning in his story without blatantly stating them. In Order to attract the reader and make him thinking about the meanings behind the words and conceive the conclusions. Also many authors utilize the Irony to create humor such as F.Scott Fitzgerald who used a great deal of dramatic irony in his short story ‘The Camel’s back’ to show how one’s actions frequently overthrow their attempts to find love.

First of all, in the Camel’s back Fitzgerald try to describe a contradictory relationship between a characters’s limited understanding of his situation in some particular moment of the development action, so as to depict two sets of character’s journeys to look for love. Furthermore, in each story the female character has created an obstacle in her search for love. And by using irony, Fitzgerald depicts the ways in which each woman has inhibited her

opportunities. We can take the example of Betty in “The Camel’s Back,” Betty “would marry him and she wouldn’t marry him. She was having such a good time that she hated to take such a definite step” (195).
Moreover, In “The Camel’s Back” Fitzgerald mainly uses dramatic irony to allow the reader know that Perry is disguised by wearing the camel suit while Betty didn’t realize that the man she refused to marry in order to retain her freedom is hiding behind the mask. She makes comments such as, “say you like me, camel. Say you think I’m beautiful. Say you’d like to belong to a pretty snake-charmer” (211) and “Aren’t you glad we’re going to be married and you’re going to belong to the nice snake-charmer ever afterward?” (214) while she is unaware that she is speaking to Perry.
Therefore, through this dramatic irony, Fitzgerald shows that although Betty desire of staying free, she is able to spend a good time with her beloved. In addition to that, Fitzgerald accentuated the fact that when one attempts to control his own destiny the attempts are often futile and he or often creates more problems and inhibits his or her chances of finding true love.
Added to that, the dramatic irony in “The Camel’s Back” holds the reader’s attention up until the end of the story.

The readers know that Perry is wearing a camel suit, and they know that it is eminent that Betty will discover. Actually, Fitzgerald keeps the reader try to guess until the very end when Betty learned that she has been married to Perry. Fitzgerald then summed up the story with a type of situation irony. Betty begins to cry hard and says she will cancel the marriage and that he will abandon her with the man that was in the back of the camel suit since she does not want to marry him. After saying her good bye, and while leaving for the west it sounds that Betty and Perry’s opportunities for love have certainly been shot when Betty runs to Perry and cries “Oh, Perry, don’t leave me! Perry, Perry, take me with you!” (220). Thus, this is also ironic because Betty has left Perry many times, but when she is the one being left she unexpectedly realizes what she really

wants.

As well as, without the use of Irony in Fitzgerald’s story ‘the Camel’s Back’, the outcome and events of the story would greatly change. Also the reader views would be altered. For example, without the dramatic irony of the character knowing Perry was in the camel costume while Betty did not then the whole story would have exhausted differently. In fact, if Betty knew her ex lover was behind the mask then she would not have spent her whole night with him because she had just broken up with him to have her joy and freedom. Otherwise, with Fitzgerald’s use of dramatic irony she ended up declaring her love for the man she tried to abandon.

To conclude, Fitzgerald strategically used irony in many influential ways throughout his short story “The Camel’s Back” by favorably capturing the attention of the reader, creating humorous moments, and supporting the moral he indicates. So Fitzgerald turned a simple short story into a multi faceted literary work by chiefly using dramatic irony, thus was able to show how one’s actions can greatly influence their search for true love.