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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 Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—They Know Compassion:
The children of Omelas all eventually learn about the existence of the scapegoat child, are initially horrified, but then mostly come to accept it as the cost of their utopian existence. The author uses verbal and situational irony to expose the moral compromise they’re all forced to address:
Their tears at the bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and to accept it. Yet it is their tears and anger, the trying of their generosity and the acceptance of their helplessness, which are perhaps the true source of the splendor of their lives. Theirs is no vapid, irresponsible happiness. They know that they, like the child, are not free. They know compassion.
Related Themes:
