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
42. Darl
Explanation and Analysis—Cash's Tools:
In Chapter 42, the Bundren family has just prevailed in the river, but Cash’s leg was broken in the process. As he speaks incoherently (likely due to shock and pain), the family tries to understand what he is asking for. In an ironic twist, he says nothing of his legs or Addie's coffin but instead worries about the fate of his tools:
He tried to say something. Dewey Dell wiped his mouth again.
“What’s he say?” Vernon said.
“What is it, Cash?” Dewey Dell said. She leaned down. “His tools,” she said.
45. Moseley
Explanation and Analysis—Moseley's Perspective :
Chapter 45, which Moseley narrates, offers another glimpse at Dewey Dell’s difficult position. The pharmacist's perspective lends dramatic irony to Dewey Dell's situation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+So I thought maybe her ma or somebody had sent her in for some of this female dope and she was ashamed to ask for it. I knew she couldn’t have a complexion like hers and use it herself, let alone not being much more than old enough to barely know what it was for.
Related Themes:
