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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
Key Examples in The Chosen
Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—The Break-Up:
When Reuven and Danny experience a break in their friendship due to rising tensions over the Zionist movement, Reuven feels a sense of incredulousness over the fact that the two boys separated over Zionism, rather than any of their other differences. When narrating Reuven’s frustration over this perhaps-preventable life event, Potok highlights its situational irony:
I felt cold with the look of helpless pleading I saw in them. It seemed so incredible to me, so outrageously absurd. Not Freud but Zionism had finally shattered our friendship. I went through the rest of the day alternating between violent rage at Reb Saunders’s blindness and anguished frustration at Danny’s helplessness.
Related Themes:
