Irony in Short Stories
Compare and Contrast Essay by Chloe Lemaster
Both of the stories I will be writing about are short stories with a great deal of irony. Even though both stories contain ironic background in a dark and sad way they are both different on a wide scale.
The first story I’d like to summarize is The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin.
The story is about a woman, Louise Mallard. Her sister and her husband’s best friend come to her house to notify her that her husband has been in a train accident and he has passed. Unlike they would expect Mrs. Mallard doesn’t react the way they would think. She lets out a few tears and then heads upstairs to her room to be alone. Once up in her room she sits down and looks out a window at nature. After a while of watching she begins to call out the same word over and over again; “Free! Free! Free!” Sometime later she returns downstairs. She stands with her sister when suddenly the door opens and there stands Mr. Mallard alive and well. Here’s the irony, Louise drops dead right there on the spot and the doctors announce that she died from a “joyful heart attack.
So, the irony in this story is clear to see. Now for the other story, this is my summary for The Interlopers by Saki:
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There a two feuding families, the Gradwitzs and the Znaeyms.
They two grandfathers, the ones who started the feud are fighting over a piece of forestland. They have decided together that the only way to resolve the feud is to kill each other. While searching for each other in the woods, Gradwitz finds Znaeym. Both men, with rifles in hand, fail to shoot the other. To make matters worse a bolt of lightning strikes and tree and pins both men to the ground. After several times of Gradwitz trying to offer Znaeym wine, both men decide to reconcile. Where’s the irony? Well, the story ends with both men being found by wolves so even though they didn’t kill each other, they still both ended up being
dead. So, even if both stories contain death in an ironic way, what are the contrasting differences? Well in The Interlopers two people ironically die, however in the first story only Mrs. Mallard ends up being dead. Another thing is in The Story of an Hour Mrs. Mallard dies with, more or less, evil thoughts in mind, where as Gradwitz and Znaeym dies with reconciliation. In The Story of an Hour there was no feuding and based on the story there were no problems between Mrs. And Mr. Mallard, in The Interlopers though, there is the feud that is eventually forgotten even if it wouldn’t matter because more than likely the men’s families probably still continued to feud after their deaths. So both stories contain: Death Irony More than one character The Interlopers contain: Death of two characters A feud Two families Reconciliation The Story of an Hour contains: Grief, even if only for a short period of time Female characters Death of one character
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Throughout the historic course of literature, one story known as “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Cornell has incorporated specific types of irony for multiple differing and fundamental reasons. Situational irony is the first use of ironic elements that will be discussed in regards to the story. Situational irony is defined as “an incongruity that appears between the expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead ” (literarydevices.net). The story’s climax offers a unique twist to the plot as it includes an unexpected discovery, ultimately incorporating situational irony into the sequence of events. The story starts out with the introduction of the legendary hunter Bob Rainsford as he is shipwrecked and trapped on a deserted island. While staying on the island, Rainsford is introduced to the eccentric General Zaroff, who is a self proclaimed expert hunter as well. In short, the General turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who forces Rainsford into a game of “cat and mouse”, which causes Rainsford to fight for his life. This state of affair is considered to be situational irony because Zaroff defies the expectations of being a hunter to the audience. This is specifically shown in the text when Rainsford confronts General Zaroff in regards to what he is hunting:
In Christy Wampole’s “How to Live Without Irony” and Richard Taylor’s “The Meaning of Human Existence” both authors argue how humans ought to live a meaningful life. Wampole tackles the argument in a different way than Taylor but they both have similar positions on the meaning. I agree with both authors in some of the ways that we should dictate our lives to justify meaningfulness but I also believe that meaningfulness can differ from person to person. Life is very precious to us; since humans have had the ability to consciously think, we have always questioning our existence. No other animal on the planet has had the luxury of pondering whether or not their life is meaningful.
In the story “Love in L.A” written by Dagoberto Gilb, the main character Jake is living his life as a lie. Jake is daydreaming about a better car and life when he causes an accident on the L.A. freeway. Instead of Jake driving away, he decides to face the issue and realizes the person he hit is a beautiful young woman. From there Jake begins to tell lies to impress the women but, the truth was, Jake didn’t have a steady occupation or insurance and his fear of the unknown kept him untruthful. In the fiction story “Love in L.A.”, irony is used because, although Jake dreamed about a better life he wasn’t willing to do anything to change his current life, as well as make better decisions.
On their way to find Death, the three rioters stumble upon an old sorrowful man in a shack. The old man hears the three men ranting on about their quest to find death and tells them he has been waiting for Death to come get him, for Death has traveled all over the world. Hearing the old man bring up death, the three men demand the old man to tell them where they can find death so they can kill it. The old man tells them they can find death under the oak tree, the rioters run to find the oak tree and find nothing but a bag full of gold coins. Confused because they did not find death where the old man said they could, they forget about why they were looking for and think about how their lives will become better with the golden coins they have found also they think about not being able to walk back to town with the gold coins or they would all be taken as thieves. There is several examples of irony in the story as well. Example one would be when they all agreed that know matter what they will not become greedy and turn their back on one another because they are like
When I first saw this title, I thought that it was simply just about a person who had experienced a very eventful hour. Although this title is very simple, it does not predict what is going to happen or have any clues or a double meaning, which I think is really cool. After reading this short story, it is exactly what I thought it was. It was a lady, Mrs. Louise Mallard, who had the most eventful hour of any one's life. From the beginning, Mrs. Mallard is sitting in her living room when her sister, Josephine comes in and tells her the horrible news of her husband's death. An important detail is that Mrs. Mallard has a heart disease so Josephine, her sister, has to be very careful telling her the news. Josephine learned of Mr. Mallard’s death
Another interesting factor about this story is the irony and tone in this story and how it adds toward each character.
In the stories “Story of an Hour”, “Everyday Use”, “The Necklace”, and “The Lottery” it is evident that irony was quite a large part of the short story. There is situational irony, which is when the situation turns out differently than expected. Also, dramatic irony is present, which is when you as a reader knows more than the character. The authors seem to base their whole story around irony to surprise their readers.
Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
...t, cruel, and even emotionless. However, this is far from true. Louise Mallard may have been relieved to hear about her husband’s death and she may have died of the disappointment at hearing he was actually alive, but she is only human. She desires freedom from oppression and freedom to be her own woman. She cares deeply for her husband, but he tied her down in a way that she did not like. The weight was far too much to bear, despite what feelings she held for Brently Mallard. She has a wide range of emotions, including the grief toward the death of Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and feelings are no different than those belonging to any other person.
Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
The main character in this story, Louise Mallard shows us her dream of freedom and proves these people wrong when her husband, Brently Mallard, dies. Louise’s husband was on a list of people that died in a railroad disaster. They tell her carefully since she has a heart condition. She starts crying, but afterwards she begins to think of all the positive things that come from his death. Her sister, Josephine goes upstairs to make sure she is okay,and once she finds out she is they come down. As they walk down the stairs she sees the door being opened and her husband comes in. Having her heart condition, she dies. The doctors thought “she had died from heart disease-of joy that kills.” However, she didn't die from the joy of getting to see her living husband but from losing her future filled with freedom.
Irony can often be found in many literary works. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is masterfully written full of irony. The characters of the short story, Mrs. Mallard, Josephine, Richards, Mr. Brently Mallard, and the doctors all find their way into Chopin’s ironic twists. Chopin embodies various ironies in “The Story of an Hour” through representations of verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony.
My presentation is based an article titled The Inhibited and the Uninhibited: Ironic Structure in the Miller’s Tale it s written by Earle Birney. The literary theme that Birney is discussing in his essay is structural irony. Structural irony is basically a series of ironic events and instances that finally build up to create a climax. The events and the climax the Birney chooses to focus his essay on are the events that lead towards the end when almost each character suffers an ironic event:
Kate Chopin's story, "The Story of an Hour", focuses on an 1890's young woman, Louise Mallard. She experienced a profound emotional change after she hears her husband's "death" and her life ends with her tragic discovery that he is actually alive. In this story, the author uses various techniques-settings, symbolism and irony- to demonstrate and develop the theme: Freedom is more important than love.