One such ironic instance would be when the Jews are traveling to Birkenau, and one woman, Mrs. Schächter, has multiple outbursts about her hallucination of a abhorrent fire. At first, the Jews believed her, but after seeing no fire and later experiencing numerous explosions of the same kind, they assumed that she had gone insane, much like Moishe the Beadle. Rather than deal with her nonsense, the Jews tied up and gagged Mrs. Schächter, and her random frenzies ceased. However, just as the Jews arrived in Birkenau and had almost forgotten her existence, Mrs. Schächter’s anxious cries filled up the train car once again. However, this time, the cries spoke the truth, and in front of the awestruck Jews were “Flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky” (Wiesel 28).…
First is dramatic irony, which is where the reader or audience knows something about the character that the character themselves doesn’t know. For this he used an example of Oedipus a character in Greek mythology. The story involves a young boy who is kicked out of his home when his father learns that he is to be killed by Oedipus. After growing up, Oedipus does end up killing his own father, due to the precautions that his father took in order to avoid that exact scenario: Irony. He also discusses situational irony, where the situation turns out different than expected.…
Situational irony is a situation where actions have an effect that is opposite from what is expected. For example, a fire truck catching on fire or a police man getting…
Situational irony is often used by writers to show incongruences between theory and reality. Douglass sometimes wished that he was illiterate and stupid so that he would not understand the breadth of the injustices against slaves. This is situationally ironic because most people believe that knowledge is a blessing and should be cherished. Unfortunately, Douglass revealed that having knowledge can be a curse when coupled with a lack of power. Douglass drew attention to a complicated facet of his life by using situation irony.…
Foreshadowing is one of the most commonly used and helpful literary terms. It can be found in many, if not all, pieces of literature to develop the character’s personalities. For example, in the short story,“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Poe the foreshadowing helps to characterise Montresor, the main character, as cocky. Also, in the short story “The Most Dangerous game” by Richard Connell foreshadowing hints at how Rainsford is boastful and inhumane.…
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an example of irony. The whole plot of the story and characters are a sample of situational irony. Dorothy goes to the wizard to try and find a way home. Later on she finds out she could’ve done that earlier. The Lion seems to be wimp who ends up being brave.…
Situational irony is when events turn out the complete opposite of what one is expecting. The very name “Fortunato” plays an immense role in situational irony, because despite his name meaning “lucky” or “fortunate”, he ends up being imprisoned for life behind the walls of Montresor’s catacombs. Another example of situational irony is when Montresor explains to his attendants that he will “not return until the morning” (237), and he gives them “explicit orders not to stir from the house” (237) in his absence. For this reason, Montresor knows that his attendants will not be at home and that his house will be empty when he returns with Fortunato. This is ironic for one will expect the attendants to listen to the master’s orders, especially when they are so explicit, but their actions defy expectations.…
Verbal irony plays an important role in showing Montresor’s hypocrisy. One example of verbal irony can be seen in Fortunato’s when Montresor first sees Fortunato at the carnival and says, “ My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.” This statement is a type of verbal irony because Fortunato is not actually luckily met by Montresor, whose intentions are to murder Fortunato. He also speaks to Fortunato believe that he cares about his life. This is shown in…
Irony, you may not think of it as much more than a minor literary device, but it often plays an enormous factor in short stories today. For example, The Interlopers, by Saki, is a short story which utilizes the effects of irony noticeably well by using ironic humor to connect the reader to the reading. To define, irony is when the opposite of what is expected to happen occurs. In this case, the story displays a strong sense of situational irony, which is irony that no one knows is coming. Irony can be found in this story when two men, who’s families have been in a massive feud for three generations over a disputed plot of land, are stuck under an enormous tree that blew down on top of them as they confronted each other in the forest.…
One example of dramatic irony was when Dally was caught stealing, and he waved his unloaded gun at the cops. The reader knew it wasn't loaded but the cops in the book didn't know that, and they ended up shooting and killing Dally, “ I been carryin' a heater. It ain't loaded, but it sure does held a bluff... And even as the policemen's guns spit fire into the night I knew that was what Dally wanted. He was jerked half around by the impact of the bullets, then slowly crumpled with a look of grim triumph on his face.…
Essay 1: “The Cask of Amontillado” “The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe, entails a plot of a very dark devastating revenge story. The reader gets a first person perspective from an unreliable narrator Montresor, who from the start of the short story is already plotting against Fortunato, because he feels he has been made a fool of by him. Montresor doesn’t let the reader know exactly what Fortunato does except the detail of saying, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge (Poe, 165).” the reader gets a sense that Montresor is untrustworthy and has evil intent for Fortunato, but also could be fabricating the truth of events throughout the story due to…
This mask represents the catacomb in which Montresor killed Fortunato in The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe. The masks lacks a mouth to represent how the catacomb kept the secret of Fortunato’s death: “At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious” (Poe). The cask of Amontillado represents the excuse that Montresor made to get Fortunato into the catacomb: “ ‘The Amontillado!’ ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment” (Poe). The wall represents when Montresor closes up Fortunato and leaves one brick out to make sure he was dead: “I had finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained but a single stone to be fitted and plastered in”(Poe).…
Authors use situational irony in their stories to make the plot surprising and other emotions. The short stories “The Ransom of the Red Chief” and “The Necklace” are great examples of situational irony. In “The Ransom of the Red Chief” O. Henry uses situational irony to make a surprising and humorous plot. Also, in “The Necklace” Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony to make a surprising and sorrowful plot. “The Ransom of the Red Chief” is a humorous and stunning short story that is a good example of situational irony.…
In the book “ Invitation to a Murder” Eleanor Abbott arranged the murder of her husband. The readers thought that Eleanor hoped to kill her husband was not strategized, yet it was, this is situational irony. Each story had someone who has been…
It is mankind’s human nature to be overcome with jealousy to a point where they feel the need for revenge. The Cask of Amontillado, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is a fictional short story where the narrator expresses his thoughts and choices as it leads up to the act of revenge. The narrator, Montresor, leads his “friend,” Fortunato, into the catacombs by tricking him into thinking that there is amontillado, and he buries him alive in the catacombs. Human beings are not born evil, but instead are born good. It is their surroundings and the choices they make that influences and pushes them over to the dark side.…