Dramatic Irony In Night

. There are different forms of irony, and Night incompasses the three types of irony: dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal Irony.

Dramatic irony is “a relationship of contrast between a character's limited understanding of his or her situation in some particular moment of the unfolding action and what the audience, at the same instant, understands the character's situation actually to be” (). In order for dramatic irony to occur, some amount of consciousness must be concurrently aware from both perspectives. Night encompasses the feelings the Jewish community had with the author's use of dramatic irony. Despite the inhumane conditions that persisted throughout the Holocaust, the Jewish society often applicated a sense of hopefulness

that persisted the situation would no longer get any worse. “Our fear and anguish were at an end. We were living among Jews, among brothers…” (). This type of irony demonstrates the inability of the Jewish community to confront and accept the truth of the situation. The reality they were not aware of was their journey of anguish and fear had just began to commence. Elie's father remains optimistic, even after the Jews are made to wear the yellow Star of David. "The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal" (), Donning the Star of David, in Eliezer’s father’s perspective, rather than being problematic, brought the Jewish community even closer than before. No one realized that wearing this star would alienate them even further. The purpose of dramatic irony is to create a sense of foreshadowing and also induce Elie Wiesel’s tone.The author wanted to show that the Jewish community, led by his father, was in denial, and decided to remain irrationally hopeful rather than prepare for the truth of the upcoming events.

Situational irony is an outcome that is significantly different than what was expected. When the Buna camp was threatened to be reached and liberated by the Red Army, the prisoners were evacuated the next morning. At this time Elie was in the hospital, and was certain he would likely be killed by the time the SS army was ready to leave, as a sick prisoner would slow the rest of the group down, and was worthless to them. Elie then decides to join the ranks and leave with the rest of the evacuees. Elie learns in post, “after the war the fate of those who had stayed behind in the hospital. They were quite simply liberated by the Russians two days after the evacuation” (). In times of panic, individuals often became caught up in the present, and can make the wrong choice in fear of the future. The situational irony of Wiesel bandwagoning off popular opinion, when the situation could have been a lot smoother otherwise, is a numbing sensation of disbelief.