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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 1
Explanation and Analysis—Gatsby's Death:
Gatsby’s death in Chapter 8 is an instance of situational irony:
The chauffeur—he was one of Wolfsheim’s proteges—heard the shots. [...] With scarcely a word said, four of us, the chauffeur, butler, gardener, and I, hurried down to the pool.
[...]
A small gust of wind that scarcely corrugated the surface was enough to disturb its accidental course with its accidental burden. The touch of a cluster of leaves revolved it slowly, tracing, like the leg of a compass, a thin red circle in the water.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Myrtle's Death:
Myrtle Wilson’s death in Chapter 7 (and its aftermath) is an instance of dramatic irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The “death car.” as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. [...] The other car, the one going toward New York, came to rest a hundred yards beyond, and its driver hurried back to where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Myrtle's Death:
Myrtle Wilson’s death in Chapter 7 (and its aftermath) is an instance of dramatic irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The “death car.” as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. [...] The other car, the one going toward New York, came to rest a hundred yards beyond, and its driver hurried back to where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Gatsby's Death:
Gatsby’s death in Chapter 8 is an instance of situational irony:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The chauffeur—he was one of Wolfsheim’s proteges—heard the shots. [...] With scarcely a word said, four of us, the chauffeur, butler, gardener, and I, hurried down to the pool.
[...]
A small gust of wind that scarcely corrugated the surface was enough to disturb its accidental course with its accidental burden. The touch of a cluster of leaves revolved it slowly, tracing, like the leg of a compass, a thin red circle in the water.
Related Themes:
