Irony
Irony runs deep in this story. Irony cuts to the bone the friction between race relations and history. In order to connect Stanley and his grandfather to the same geographical location, Sachar introduces the reader to the origin of the outlaw Katherine Barlow. Her story is ironic because the tragic events that unfold lead to the downfall of the warden.
Katherine Barlow is the schoolteacher in the quiet town of Green Lake, Texas. She has a problem. The wealthy young man who wants to marry her is vain and shallow, and the poor, loving man who she wants to marry is black. The historical setting of this part of the story is post American Civil War, a time of strong racial tension. Katherine’s love for Onion Sam leads to his murder and to
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her becoming the notorious outlaw. More irony surfaces when certain elements that Kate and Sam leave behind aid Stanley and Zero in their escape from Camp Green Lake.
Sam’s boat the Mary Lou sank when Sam was murdered, but the hull embedded in the bottom of the dry lake would provide safety for the two boys. Inside the boat, jars of Katherine’s famous peaches provided food and lifesaving liquid. This same canned concoction called “Sploosh” would also become the invention that reverses Stanley III’s bad luck. The patch of wild onions that provided Sam with his fame would also provide healing and refreshment to the boys as well as immunity to the yellow lizards.
Yellow lizards have their own special irony. A yellow lizard killed Kissin’ Kate, denying Trout Walker from finding the location of the treasure. Lizards infested the buried treasure in the hole when Stanley and Zero found it. This prevented the warden from getting her hands on it. The lizards would not bite Stanley or zero because they had eaten the onions and the lizards “don’t like onion blood” (Sachar,
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2003) It is also ironic that Zero cannot read. In exchange for digging half his holes, Stanley tries to teach Zero how to read. The warden refers to this as a waste of time and it becomes a source of jealousy for the other campers. One fellow camper relates to having Zero dig for Stanley as slavery by saying, “Hey Caveman, (Stanley’s camp name) you should get a whip. Then if your slave doesn’t dig fast enough, you can crack it across his back.” (Sachar, 2003) What makes this ironic is that the one thing that could help Zero have a better chance in society is learning to read, and this one thing the warden considers useless and creates jealousy within the other boys. The warden should be the one teaching Zero to read. His fellow black campers should have encouraged Zero to learn to read. Only at the end of the story is the reward for learning to read revealed. Zero discovers the writing on the suitcase and realizes it belongs to Stanley. He also discovers the irony that Stanley’s first name is his last name spelled backwards. Self-Referring The suitcase full of treasure with the name Stanley Yelnats printed on it is the conclusion of this self-referring story.
While the story covers three basic periods of history, the histories of the characters in the story are more important than the actual accounts of history. Elya Yelnats emigrates from Latvia at a time in American history of large-scale immigration. Kate Barlow’s story takes place when the west was still wild and the wounds of the Civil War were still fresh. The main story takes place in modern day America when children of different races have more opportunity for equality, but racism and prejudice are still evident. Sachar does not refer to history outside of his book. His characters are not real and his places are fictitious. To understand one period, the author describes the others. His histories overlap with precision and accuracy. Sachar uses elements of racism to create realistic history but provides hope that prejudice is conquerable. Elya’s atypical friendship with Madame Zeroni, Katherine’s unlawful love for Sam, and Stanley’s partnership with Zero are all examples that transcend
bigotry. Conclusion This book is rich in symbolism, irony and hidden meaning. Sachar does a masterful job of blending recurring images, symbols and irony. He creates his own history that adds life to the story. The story is both believable and full of fantasy. His characters are human and easy for readers to identify with. While there are many ways to analyze and evaluate literature, adherents of The New Criticism should agree that this is a book worth reading for the merits of its contents.
The Arizona atmosphere was visibly different in both literal and nonliteral ways from Kentucky. Taylor’s lifestyle would have been drastically contrasting with how she thrived in her new home of Tucson. Apart from having a night and day experience at maternity, and getting a fresh start at life on her own, Taylor also met a new group of people who changed her in many ways. Lou Ann, who molded her into a better mother, Mattie, who helped her to overcome fears, Esperanza, though she spoke very little, managed to open Taylor’s eyes the horrors of a life she would never have to experience, and finally Turtle, who made Taylor realize what she loved most in life. Pittman, Kentucky did not have any of these individuals to teach the protagonist of this story.
In the article The Onion the satire being made criticizes how easily it is for people to believe in an advertised product even though it may be false. The purpose of the writers use of diction, exaggeration, and sarcasm is to make it clear as to how manipulative people have become believing in any products shown in ridiculous advertisement. In this specific article it targets the way an advertisement uses exaggerated stories such as Helene’s or Geoff DeAngelis in order to try to create a connection to an everyday person. Moreover the way they make themselves more credible by their use of a credible source such as the doctors. In total the way an advertisement builds itself to make themselves seem credible to sell their product.
Narrative element: The director chose to represent the villain as a lizard because lizards usually symbolize a person with dreams, goals, desires and vision. This “symbolism” reflects on his personality and it shows dramatic change that occurred in his character and the director wanted to teach the audience that having the desire to achieve your goals is pleasant but it is important to stay within limits because eventually it can lead to downfall.
A predominantly black town in Florida by the name of Rosewood was abandoned in 1923 due to the city being left in devastating ruins after a horrendous bloodshed massacre. The massacre was initiated by accusations of a black man by the name of Jesse Hunter assaulting a white female by the name of Fanny Taylor. But their troubles didn’t begin there this was long awaiting battle due to prior false information that often ended with a black person being lynched.The incident regarding Jesse Hunter and Fanny Taylor set havoc to the little town of Rosewood.In spite of the rumors that the two were romantically involved or that at least the woman was using the incident to cover up her premarital affairs. Meanwhile, members of the Ku Klux Klan rallied in nearby towns and gathered people to go and rise terror on Rosewood. The one person who knew the truth was a man named Sam Cartier. Who was lynched by the Ku Klux Klan as a warning to whoever was helping Jesse. It was soon rumored that Jesse’s friend Aaron’s cousin Sylvester was hiding him at his house. The KKK demanded
Satire is form of comedy in which flaws in people or society are chastised in order to prompt change in the objects of criticism. Regardless of how long ago comedy itself may have existed, the concept of satire was introduced by the Roman satirists, Juvenal and Horace. The tones conveyed in their writing characterize the main modes of satire, being Horatian and Juvenalian, and are still used in satire today. Presently, two popular forms of comedy that employ satirical elements include parody news sources and comedic performances. Although satirical writing has evolved throughout history, many aspects of satire are still apparent in both the articles of parody news sources, like The Onion, and the performances of professional comedians, like
For example, in the beginning of the story, the narrator starts by talking about Mrs. Freeman. “Besides the neutral expressions that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and reverse, that she used for all her human dealings” (433). The irony in this first line is that she is a “Freeman,” yet only has three different expressions. Another example of an irony that is easily noticeable is when Mrs. Hopewell considered Manley Pointer as “good country people.” “He was just good country people, you know” (441). The irony in this line is that in the end, Manley Pointer, whom is supposedly is “good country people,” ends up being a thief who steals Hulga’s prosthetic leg and runs and not only steals, but admits that he is not a Christian, making the line, “good country people,” a dramatic irony. However, one of the most ironic characters in the story is Hulga herself as she understands little of herself, regardless of the high education she holds in philosophy. For example, Hulga imagines that Pointer is easily seduced. “During the night she had imagined that she seduced him” (442). Yet, when they kissed, she was the one who was seduced and having the “extra surge of adrenaline… that enables one to carry a packed trunk out of a burning house…”
The novel traces the historical lives of Victoria Woodhull, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Anthony Comstock as well as that of the fictional Freydeh Levin, mainly during the years of 1868 to 1874. The action is set in and around New York City. Also prime characters in this epic are the first women's movement and the post civil war re-constructionist gilded age, as they and their social ramifications intertwine with and impact the lives of the human characters.
The irony at the end of this story is very interesting. O’ Connor forces the reader to wonder which characters are “Good Men”, perhaps by the end of the story she is trying to convey two points: first, that a discerning “Good Man” can be very difficult, second that a manipulative, self centered, and hollow character: The Grandmother is a devastating way to be, both for a person individually and for everyone else around them. The reader is at least left wondering if some or all of the clues to irony I provided apply in some way to the outcome of this story.
From the novel, it can then be concluded that issues that may seem to have disappeared from the world still thrive no matter the period of time. There is still some sort of oppression that takes place even if not necessarily by one race over another. Slavery, racism and gender abuses are still very much a part of the modern world. No matter how they seem to be removed from the world, there is still a little part of them that thrives within the very fabric of society.
...hese characters we better and more pure, bad things would might have not happened to them like they did. In this situation, cosmic irony is used to show how someone’s fate can be decided by the life decisions they make. It was only destiny that brought the Misfit and the family together.
Segregation in the southern states is very prominent during that time period. For instance, Lily’s housekeeper Rosaleen could not live in the same house as Lily, nor could she worship in the same church. Lily finally had enough of her abusive father T. Ray and decided to run away along with their housekeeper Rosaleen, who she broke out of jail. The only place she desired to go was the town, as written on one of her mother’s pictures. On the back of a photograph of a black version of Mary Lily’s mother writing the town of Tiburon.
MagnaSole shoe inserts seem to have everything a person could ever ask for; they can heal any ailment, grow back limb, read your horoscope, and even make you fly. While these claims are hardly accurate, they might as well be when compared to the satirical claims iterated in the article. By utilizing often-hyperbolic appeals, The Onion efficiently drew attention to the utter falsehood and senselessness of modern advertising in order to common on its absurdity and lack of foundation.
Throughout the whole short story “The Story of an Hour” the reader sees’ irony but the best usage of irony occurs toward the end of the story in the last few paragraphs. As the reader reads the story they notice that Mrs. Mallard’s husband Brently Mallard died in a railroad disaster. The reader also finds out that Mrs. Mallard has a heart trouble, and great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death. (157) There ar...
In general, the discrepancy between appearances and reality is ironic. Irony is encountered throughout our daily activities and comes in many forms; verbal, situational. and the cosmic. Verbal irony is the most familiar kind, this occurs when we understand that.
The title of the story represents irony when the true essence of the title is completely different from what the reader might think it to be.