Previous
Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Lorenzo's Affiliation:
In Chapter 12, Cummins introduces dramatic irony by providing only the reader with knowledge of Lorenzo's Los Jardineros affiliation. In the hostel, Luca sees Lorenzo's tattoo:
When he straightens to follow Padre Rey down the corridor, Luca notes the shape of a sickle tattoo with three bloodred droplets on the blade jutting out from the man’s sock. It’s carved into the calf muscle of his right leg. Luca doesn’t know what the tattoo means, exactly, but he doesn’t need to understand it for it to amplify his sense of dread.
Luca doesn't know the meaning of this tattoo. When he returns to Lydia, he is too rattled by the event to explain what happened in words, so he doesn't tell her about the mark. Lydia, on the other hand, does know the meaning of this symbol but doesn't know that Lorenzo has the tattoo. Only the reader, then, has access to both pieces of information: the presence and meaning of Lorenzo's tattoo. Only they can thus infer that Lorenzo is part of Los Jardineros.
This affiliation means that Lorenzo answers to Javier and might be actively looking for Lydia and Luca, possibly to kill them. The dramatic irony increases the feeling of suspense and danger. The reader knows that Lydia and Luca's lives are at risk—and the reader also knows that Lydia and Luca do not know and so can't take preventative or self-protective measures. Without any way to warn them of the danger they're in, the reader must read on in anticipation of a confrontation.
Related Themes:
Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Beauty and Grief:
Throughout their journey to the United States, Lydia and Luca struggle to reconcile the beauty that they see with the trauma of the experience. Cummins positions this dilemma as situational irony, as the beauty is in conflict with their trauma. In Chapter 15, she writes:
It’s overwhelming, to be in a beautiful, festive place like this. Lydia is overcome by guilt. Because it feels incongruous and seductive and wrong to witness the simple charm of a pretty place. She can see that same kind of notion land across Luca’s features, and she reaches for his hand. His mind does his awful thing to remind him not to be enchanted: it floods him with the helpful memory of all his dead family […]. Everyone gone. Luca is gone with them for a moment […].
Lydia and Luca are in the immediate aftermath of losing their entire family in a massacre. And, additionally, they are in the midst of a horrible journey—one that exposes them to even more death and suffering. And, yet, impossibly, they witness moments of intense beauty on that horrible journey. In this scene, they are witnessing not only natural beauty but also the joy of others. Lydia and Luca both find it hard to grasp that such beauty and joy could exist at this moment in their lives. It feels wrong to them to experience that joy: so wrong that Luca's mind conjures memories of the massacre "to remind him not to be enchanted." As they continue with their lives, Lydia and Luca must grapple with this coexistence of joy and pain.
Related Themes:
