Irony Between Ulrich Von Gradwitz And Georg Znaeym

The author, Saki, includes irony in this story, as a way to get the reader to stop and think about what is going on. Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym are the two characters in this book and they both have the same goal of killing each other. While in the woods hunting each other down, a tree falls. Ulrich finds it amusing when he sees that Georg is caught underneath the tree, he says “So you’re not killed, as you ought to be, but you’re caught, anyway,” he cried, “caught fast. Ho, what a jest, Ulrich von Gradwitz snared in his stolen forest. There’s real justice for you!” This is ironic that he finds being trapped under the tree a suitable punishment for Ulrich, as he too is trapped underneath the same tree. The two men argue with minimal

concern that they are underneath a tree. The irony can be seen again, because the two make no effort to lift the tree or get out from under it in any way, they just want to dispute with each other. Eventually, by the end of the short story, the two become friends, which is followed by even more irony as they are killed by wolves unable to share with anyone that they ended a feud that had been passed down generation after generation, like a heirloom. Irony is a very specific aspect of this story, and it ties it all together very nicely.