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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
Book 1, Preface
Explanation and Analysis—Footnotes:
Yunior’s narration is infused with verbal irony, particularly when he’s writing about Trujillo’s dictatorship in his footnotes. This irony emerges out of a gap between Yunior’s stated words and his intended meaning. For example, in a footnote to the Preface, he writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Outstanding accomplishments include: the 1937 genocide against the Haitian and Haitian-Dominican community; one of the longest, most damaging U.S.-backed dictatorships in the Western Hemisphere (and if we Latin types are skillful at anything it’s tolerating U.S.-backed dictators, so you know this was a hard-earned victory, the chilenos and the argentinos are still appealing); the creation of the first modern kleptocracy (Trujillo was Mobutu before Mobutu was Mobutu); the systematic bribing of American senators; and, last but not least, the forging of the Dominican peoples into a modern state (did what his Marine trainers, during the Occupation, were unable to do).
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 3: The Three Heartbreaks of Belicia Cabral (1955-1962)
Explanation and Analysis—Footnotes:
Yunior’s narration is infused with verbal irony, particularly when he’s writing about Trujillo’s dictatorship in his footnotes. This irony emerges out of a gap between Yunior’s stated words and his intended meaning. For example, in a footnote to the Preface, he writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Outstanding accomplishments include: the 1937 genocide against the Haitian and Haitian-Dominican community; one of the longest, most damaging U.S.-backed dictatorships in the Western Hemisphere (and if we Latin types are skillful at anything it’s tolerating U.S.-backed dictators, so you know this was a hard-earned victory, the chilenos and the argentinos are still appealing); the creation of the first modern kleptocracy (Trujillo was Mobutu before Mobutu was Mobutu); the systematic bribing of American senators; and, last but not least, the forging of the Dominican peoples into a modern state (did what his Marine trainers, during the Occupation, were unable to do).
Related Themes:
Book 3: The Final Letter
Explanation and Analysis—Ybón:
Situational irony arises out of Oscar’s relationship with Ybón, a prostitute he meets in Santo Domingo. In Book 3, Oscar explains his love to Yunior:
Unlock with LitCharts A+So this is what everybody's always talking about! Diablo! If only I'd known. The beauty! The beauty!
Related Themes:
