When Bill and Nick are discussing Nick’s recent break-up with Marjorie, Bill advises Nick not to get back together with her. In an example of situational irony, this moment of warning alerts Nick to the fact that getting back together with Marjorie is possible, and he feels hopeful about his future for the first time.
The irony comes across in the following passage, as Bill’s serious warning is filtered through broken-hearted Nick’s mind, ending with the hopeful phrase, “There’s always a chance”:
“You don’t want to think about it. You might get back into it again.”
Nick had not thought about that. It had seemed so absolute. That was a thought. That made him feel better.
“Sure,” he said. “There’s always that danger.”
He felt happy now. There was not anything that was irrevocable. He might go into town Saturday night. Today was Thursday.
“There’s always a chance,” he said.
“You’ll have to watch yourself,” Bill said.
“I’ll watch myself,” he said.
This is an example of situational irony, as Nick is not taking Bill’s advice seriously. Bill says, “You don’t want to think about it”—referring to his relationship with Marjorie—and Nick immediately thinks about it. While Bill thinks Nick is agreeing with him, he doesn’t notice that Nick switches his language from “There’s always that danger” to “There’s always a chance” to getting back together with his ex. Bill’s warning becomes the reason that Nick has hope for the first time since his breakup.
The final lines of the passage also capture the irony well. Here, Bill advises Nick to “watch” himself—as in, keep himself from getting back together with Marjorie. Nick says that he will, while readers know he means that he will “watch” himself try to mind the relationship.
