The situational irony that underlies the entire memoir is that Solomon is a free Black man who has ended up enslaved. This is particularly ironic because he has been free his entire life and never considered the possibility that something like this could happen to him. When Hamilton and Brown encourage him to obtain free papers before they travel to Washington, D.C., for example, Solomon writes that the idea “would scarcely have occurred to me, had they not proposed it […] the apprehension of danger to my personal safety never having suggested itself to me in the remotest manner.”
Solomon’s shock and confusion when he awakens from being drugged to find himself chained up and kidnapped captures the irony of this moment:
Then did the idea begin to break upon my mind, at first dim and confused, that I had been kidnapped. But that I thought was incredible. There must have been some misapprehension—some unfortunate mistake. It could not be that a free citizen of New-York, who had wronged no man, nor violated any law, should be dealt with thus inhumanly.
Solomon assumes that his kidnapping has been a mistake, but as his story goes on to show, his captors do not care that he is a free man. Solomon concludes this section of the memoir explaining that he is still unsure if Hamilton and Brown intentionally sold him into slavery or not—the irony of these two kind men persuading him to obtain free papers the day before they drugged and kidnapped him is just too much for him. He tells readers they should come to their own conclusions about what happened.
That Solomon ends up being kidnapped while visiting the nation’s capital—the symbol of freedom and democracy—is an example of situational irony. He notes the irony of this as he is being transferred from the slave pen to the ship that takes him to Louisiana (the passage also contains an allusion to the song "Hail, Columbia"):
So we passed, hand-cuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington—through the Capital of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man’s inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! Hail! Columbia, happy land, indeed!
While the act of being chained in a city that claims to represent freedom makes this an example of situational irony, Solomon also uses verbal irony in this passage by sarcastically exclaiming that Washington, D.C. is a “happy land,” when, of course, the opposite is true for him in this moment. He ironically encourages readers to “hail” the nation’s capital, a moment when his bitter resentment about slavery and racism comes through. (This is also an allusion to the song “Hail, Columbia” which used to be one of the U.S.'s several national anthems.) Here ,Solomon is not just highlighting the irony of this moment in his individual life, but the irony of slavery being allowed at all in a country that claims to prioritize liberty above all else.
Epps—the cruelest of Solomon's enslavers—tortures the people he enslaves in numerous ways, including by waking them up in the middle of the night (after they’ve spent the day working) and forcing them to sing, dance, and act as if they are having a good time. Solomon’s description of these nights captures the situational irony of desperately unhappy people being forced to act like they are enjoying themselves:
Frequently, we were thus detained until almost morning. Bent with excessive toil—actually suffering for a little refreshing rest, and feeling rather as if we could cast ourselves upon the earth and weep, many a night in the house of Edwin Epps have his unhappy slaves been made to dance and laugh.
Solomon highlights the painful irony of this moment by juxtaposing how he and the other enslaved people are literally bent over due to fatigue and overwork, longing to weep, yet have to “dance and laugh.” An additional level of irony in this scene is that the one thing that has brought Solomon joy while in captivity—the violin—is now becoming another tool of torture, as he is the one forced to play the music while the other enslaved people dance.
In an example of situational irony, James Burch (the slave dealer who sold Solomon into slavery) is allowed to testify in the court hearing about Solomon’s enslavement—but Solomon himself isn’t. Even with Solomon’s lawyer arguing that it was blatantly unfair for Burch to be able to speak as a witness with Solomon unable to, the court still allowed it, as Solomon describes:
I was then offered as a witness, but, objection being made, the court decided my evidence inadmissible. It was rejected solely on the ground that I was a colored man—the fact of my being a free citizen of New-York not being disputed. [...] Burch himself was offered as a witness in his own behalf. It was contended by counsel for the people, that such testimony should not be allowed—that it was in contravention of every rule of evidence, and if permitted would defeat the ends of justice. His testimony, however, was received by the court!
As Solomon notes, he was not allowed to testify because he was Black, meaning that the racism that he is asking the court to challenge is being perpetuated by that very same court. Similarly, Burch is in court because he has behaved in an untrustworthy manner, yet he is the one that the court believes is trustworthy enough to be a witness. Unfortunately, because of this unfair system, Burch is found innocent of all charges.
Ultimately, this moment reveals the absurdity of the American “justice system” at the time (which clearly perpetuated racism and white supremacy) and the underlying irony that it was even allowed to be called such.
