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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
Book 1, Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—How Good You Have It?:
In a moment of tragic situational irony, Raymond laments that his mistress does not realize how good she has it while also explaining that he abuses her:
You see, Monsieur Meursault, it’s like I told her: "You don’t realize that everybody’s jealous of how good you have it with me. Someday you’ll know just how good it was." He’d beaten her till she bled.
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Book 1, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Lost Dog:
Despite initially appearing to despise his dog, dragging him along on walks and beating him frequently, Salamano ironically becomes distraught when the dog runs away:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He was looking down at the tips of his shoes and his scabby hands were trembling. Without looking up at me he asked, “They’re not going to take him away from me, are they, Monsieur Meursault? They’ll give him back to me. Otherwise, what’s going to happen to me?” I told him that the pound kept dogs for three days so that their owners could come and claim them and that after that they did with them as they saw fit. [...] from the peculiar little noise coming through the partition, I realized he was crying. For some reason I thought of Maman.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Nothing But Stones:
When Meursault first sees the group of Arab men allegedly following Raymond, he uses a simile to describe how they stare:
Unlock with LitCharts A+We were just about to leave when all of a sudden Raymond motioned to me to look across the street. I saw a group of Arabs leaning against the front of the tobacconist’s shop. They were staring at us in silence, but in that way of theirs, as if we were nothing but stones or dead trees.
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