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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
Key Examples in Angela’s Ashes
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Limerickmen:
Malachy Sr. explains to Angela that while prospective employers initially show him respect and imply they are willing to hire him, they ultimately choose a “Limerickman” over him every time:
Bosses and foremen always show him respect and say they’re ready to hire him, but when he opens his mouth and they hear the North of Ireland accent, they take a Limerickman instead. That’s what he tells Mam by the fire [...] and when she says, Why can’t you try to talk like a Limerickman? he says he’ll never sink that low and the greatest sorrow of his life is that his sons are now afflicted with the Limerick accent. She says, Sorry for your troubles and I hope that’s all you’ll ever have.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—A Glorious Thing to Die:
After Eugene dies, Frank mulls over the messages of martyrdom he hears from his father and his communion teacher in a moment full of situational irony and pathos. His father claims “it’s a glorious thing to die for Ireland,” while his communion teacher insists “it’s a glorious thing to die for the Faith," but Frank is confused:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The master says it’s a glorious thing to die for the Faith and Dad says it’s a glorious thing to die for Ireland and I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who would like us to live. My brothers are dead and my sister is dead and I wonder if they died for Ireland or the Faith. Dad says they were too young to die for anything. Mam says it was disease and starvation and him never having a job. Dad says, Och, Angela, puts on his cap and goes for a long walk.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Champion Pint Drinker:
Frank describes his friend Mikey’s father, Peter, as a “great champion” who wins drinking contests at pubs, and his mother as someone who is always in and out of mental institutions. In doing so, the narrator uses situational irony and hyperbole to describe the tragicomic dysfunction in Mikey’s family:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Mikey’s father, Peter, is a great champion. He wins bets in the pubs by drinking more pints than anyone. [...] He’s such a champion they could chop off his fingers and he’d carry on regardless. Nora Molloy is often carted off to the lunatic asylum demented with worry over her hungry famishing family. [...] It’s well known that all the lunatics in the asylum have to be dragged in but she’s the only one that has to be dragged out, back to her five children and the champion of all pint drinkers.
Related Themes:
