The Last of the Mohicans
by James Fenimore Cooper

The Last of the Mohicans: Situational Irony 1 key example

Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Prisoner of War:

In Chapter 15, General Webb sends news that he is essentially abandoning Fort William Henry, which Munro has been holding against Montcalm's siege. Montcalm thus releases Hawkeye, who he had taken prisoner; when Duncan sees Hawkeye, there is a sense of situational irony in the scout's appearance:

The countenance of Hawkeye was haggard and careworn, and his air dejected, as though he felt the deepest degradation at having fallen into the power of his enemies. He was without his favorite weapon, and his arms were even bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of a deer.