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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
Part 2: The Desert
Explanation and Analysis—The Green Lantern:
While living in Battle Mountain, Nevada, Jeannette and her brother Brian become fascinated with an establishment called the Green Lantern. Ironically, the nature of the Green Lantern eludes them:
Mom said it was a cathouse, but I never saw any cats there, only women wearing bathing suits or short dresses who sat or lay out on the porch, waving at the cars that drove by. […] I couldn’t figure out what went on at the Green Lantern, and Mom refused to discuss it. She would say only that bad things happened there, which made the Green Lantern a place of irresistible mystery to us.
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Part 3: Welch
Explanation and Analysis—Glass Castle as Dump:
Throughout the memoir, Dad creates and revises plans for “the Glass Castle,” an elaborate palace that represents his idealistic hopes and dreams for his family. For a long time, the Walls children maintain faith in Dad’s vision, so much so that in Welch, Brian and Jeannette spend their spare time digging a hole for the Glass Castle’s foundation outside their ramshackle house on Little Hobart Street. However, in a moment of situational irony, Dad assigns the pit a new purpose:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But since we couldn’t afford to pay the town’s trash-collection fee, our garbage was really piling up. One day Dad told us to dump it in the hole.
“But that’s for the Glass Castle,” I said.
“It’s a temporary measure,” Dad told me. He explained that he was going to hire a truck to cart the garbage to the dump all at once. But he never got around to that, either, and as Brian and I watched, the hole for the Glass Castle’s foundation slowly filled with garbage.
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Part 4: New York City
Explanation and Analysis—Professor Fuchs:
During a class at Barnard, Jeannette speaks up during a discussion on homelessness to suggest that perhaps homeless people “get the lives they want.” In a moment of dramatic irony, Jeannette’s beloved professor pushes back:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Are you saying homeless people want to live on the street?” Professor Fuchs asked. […]
“Not exactly,” I said. I was fumbling for words. “They do. But if some of them were willing to work hard and make compromises, they might not have ideal lives, but they could make ends meet.”
Professor Fuchs walked around from behind her lectern. “What do you know about the lives of the underprivileged?” she asked. She was practically trembling with agitation. “What do you know about the hardships and obstacles that the underclass faces?”
[...]
“You have a point,” I said.
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