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Definition of Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given situation, and that of the... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a... read full definition
Key Examples in Killers of the Flower Moon
Chapter 20: So Help You God!
Explanation and Analysis—Two-Faced Family:
In Chapter 20, during the trial for Anna's murder, attorneys question Ernest and Bryan Burkhart. The trial uncovers sickening dramatic irony and situational irony that have been at play at least since Anna's murder:
The shocked attorney asked [Bryan], “You knew Anna Brown’s dead body was out there, didn’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
Morrison had been among the onlookers. Ernest had been there, too, comforting Mollie, even though he had known that Anna’s two killers were standing only a few feet away from them. Similarly, Ernest had known from the moment Rita and Bill Smith’s house exploded who was responsible; he had known the truth when, later that evening, he had crept into bed with Mollie, and he had known the whole time she had been desperately searching for the killers.
Related Themes:
