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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 Jasper Jones
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Mosquito Murder:
In Chapter 2, Charlie contemplates Laura's death; he saw her beaten and hanged body with his own eyes, but it makes no sense to him how someone could have done such a thing. His incredulity is immediately followed by a moment of situational irony that helps make sense of the contradiction:
What I really can’t begin to understand is how it happened. How somebody could do it. How anybody could kill a girl. How they could take her into the bush and beat her down and hang her from a bare limb in her nightdress. How they could watch her die. How they could leave her there. How they could be capable. I snatch at a mosquito in front of my face. Wipe it on my shorts. I flinch. They’re everywhere. I hate insects.
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Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Behind Closed Doors:
In Chapter 3, dramatic irony intensifies as Wesley and Charlie discuss where Laura might have gone. Wesley's suspicion that she has run away from home foreshadows the eventual revelation that she has been enduring sexual abuse:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“It’s what I suspect, Charlie. I’m not sure what their household is like, I don’t pretend to know what happens under their roof. I mean, it’s not fair for me to speculate as to why she would want to up and leave, but I do feel there’s a streak in her character that could lead her to do something like that. To leave without telling anybody. They’ll probably pick her up someplace close, or she’ll be in contact when her money runs out.”
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Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Bombs and Bodies:
In Chapter 4, Charlie learns that Jeffrey's extended family in Vietnam has been affected by a bombing. In bed that night, he notices situational irony in his own response to this new horror:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Strangely, of all the horrible things I’ve encountered and considered recently, dropping a bomb seems to be the least violent among them, even though it’s clearly the worst. But there’s no evil mug shot, no bloody glove. It’s hard to figure out who to blame. There’s something clean about all that distance. Maybe the further away you are, the less you have to care, the less you’re responsible. But that seems wrong to me. It should be in the news. It’s wrong that they died.
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Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Personal Responsibility:
In Chapter 5, Jasper argues that Laura's death is his fault because she never would have died had he been with her instead of working in the orchards. Charlie, who has been trying to practice logical thinking, uses verbal irony to point out a fallacy in Jasper's argument:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“You’re not listening, Charlie. If I’d have bin with her, like I should’ve bin, this would never have happened.”
“Well, okay. But we don’t know that either. And that’s no way to look at things. That doesn’t make it your fault. The fact is, you weren’t to know. How could you? By that logic, every horrible world event would be your fault because you didn’t stop it. I don’t know. You should have warned Kennedy not to ride in a convertible.”
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Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Neighborly Kindness:
At the start of Chapter 7, Charlie mentions that some of the townspeople have brought flower cuttings to An Lu following the destruction of his garden the night he was attacked. Charlie ponders the situational irony that no one showed this sort of kindness to Mrs. Lu after she was assaulted at a town hall meeting:
Unlock with LitCharts A+After they heard what happened, a few folks from town delivered cuttings and grafts and flowers from their own gardens for An Lu to use...It seems like it’s their way of saying they’re sorry for what happened. But I wonder if they would have brought anything if his garden hadn’t been razed. Nobody brought anything for Mrs. Lu after she was scalded and scolded by Sue Findlay. Maybe because his garden was a beautiful thing everyone could share in, they felt like they lost something too.
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Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Jeffrey and Charlie:
Charlie frames himself and Jeffrey as foils, but his understanding of what sets them apart changes over the course of the novel. Dramatic irony plays a major role in this evolution.
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