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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
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Harder to Fail:
In Chapter 4, Citra has recently been taken on as an apprentice with Scythe Faraday along with Rowan. She thinks the scythedom is unfixably immoral, so she schemes ways to get herself out of her apprenticeship. Her ideas on how to fail are ironic:
Citra had to tell herself that there was an out. She could fail to perform. She could be a lousy apprentice. She could sabotage herself so completely that Honorable Scythe Faraday would be forced to choose Rowan and return her to her family at the end of the year. The problem was that Citra was very bad at doing things half-assed. It would be much harder for her to fail than to succeed.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—15B:
In Chapter 6, a businessman sits down in the aisle seat, 15C, on an airplane. Next to him sits a woman in 15A, in the window seat. There are no middle seats, which the narrator describes with some irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Are you heading out or heading home?” asked the woman sitting beside him in 15A. There was no 15B—the concept of the B seat, where one had to sit between two other passengers, had been eliminated along with other unpleasant things, like disease and government.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Take Me Out to Lunch:
In Chapter 19, Scythe Curie sets Citra a task—to atone for the worst thing she has ever done. This is part of Curie's highly moral approach to Scythehood. Citra easily decides the worst act she can remember: pushing her friend Rhonda Flowers in front of a truck when they were young children. Citra ruefully recalls this event throughout the book. Curie makes Citra ask Rhonda to push her in front of a truck, so they can be even. But Rhonda, ironically, is not interested:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Listen, it’s tempting and all,” said Rhonda, “but I’ve got homework, and dance class later.”
“So… you don’t want to?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, I’m just busy today. Can I throw you under a truck some other time?”
Citra hesitated. “Okay…”
“Or better yet, maybe you can just take me out to lunch or something.”
“Okay…”
“Just next time, please give us some warning so you don’t freak out my mother.” Then she said good-bye, stepped inside, and closed the door.
Related Themes:
