In an example of situational irony, Elizabeth spends the first half of the story believing (and convincing readers) that Walter hasn’t come home because he went out drinking after work, only to discover that he was in a mining accident and died. The tragic irony comes across in the following passage, in which Elizabeth rants to her children about Walter prioritizing going to a pub over coming home for dinner:
When she rose her anger was evident in the stern unbending of her head. She looked at the pudding in the fender, and broke out:
“It is a scandalous thing as a man can’t even come in to his dinner. If it’s crozzled up to a cinder I don’t see why I should care. Past his very door he goes to get to a public house, and here I sit with his dinner waiting for him——”
Here, Elizabeth angrily declares it “scandalous” that Walter hasn’t come home for dinner, (incorrectly) envisioning him going “past his very door” to get to “a public house” (or pub). The irony of this passage becomes apparent later in the story when readers learn that Walter was likely suffocating in the mines while Elizabeth was lambasting him for sneaking off to the bar. Elizabeth assuming the worst about her husband points to how isolated and abandoned she has felt in her relationship with him for many years.
