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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
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Bobby’s Parentage:
Near the end of the story, Mrs. Das reveals to Mr. Kapasi a secret she has never told anyone: her son Bobby was the product of an affair she had eight years earlier and is therefore not her husband’s biological child. The scene that follows—in which Mr. Kapasi interacts with the Das family as if nothing has happened—is an example of dramatic irony. This is because Mrs. Das, Mr. Kapasi, and readers all know the truth about Bobby, while Bobby himself, his father, and his siblings do not.
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Explanation and Analysis—Mrs. Das’s Reveal:
Near the end of the story, Mrs. Das finds a way to be alone with Mr. Kapasi in the car, sitting close to him and revealing to him that her son Bobby is the result of an affair. While readers interpret this intimate reveal as a sign of Mrs. Das’s interest in having an affair with Mr. Kapasi as well, it becomes clear that she actually sought alone time with him in order to seek his advice on how to rid herself of guilt and pain (given his part-time job as an “interpreter of maladies”), making this an example of situational irony.
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