Understanding irony - Convincing character voice - Speech, voice, and point of view

Creative writing - Mike Sanders 2014

Understanding irony
Convincing character voice
Speech, voice, and point of view

“Isn’t it ironic?”

Often I have heard this rhetorical question employed as a form of catch-all commentary on something that’s been said or overheard in a classroom or at a cocktail party. Usually the individual who utters the question has found what they’ve heard amusing in some way and want to sound somewhat sophisticated when commenting on it. Yet just as often, what they’ve overheard isn’t ironic at all. This isn’t to say the person who misused ironic is a simpleton; irony is one of the most misapplied terms in the English language and journalists, politicians, and even college professors regularly take it out of context.

Let’s start by considering what makes an effective shock in writing. It’s very similar to what makes a joke funny: the shock when the punch line is unexpected. You generally don’t laugh at jokes you know because you already know what’s coming. Humor usually follows this basic formula: set pattern, reinforce pattern, break pattern. Now you shouldn’t start trying to perform your creative writing in the same manner you deliver jokes, but shock can prove a very powerful compositional tool. When your story subverts your reader’s expectations, your story shocks, which is usually a memorable moment in the text.

Irony can only be used effectively when used with intent, so it’s important to understand what irony is. As you’ve seen, people often mistake the meaning of irony. What they usually mean is really an oxymoron.

DEFINITION

Irony is a literary device that presents a conflict between appearance and reality. An oxymoron is when seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side.

Given that irony can cause interpretive problems for writers and nonwriters alike, I’ll try to clarify it for you by illustrating the three kinds of irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational.

Verbal irony

Verbal irony, or when what’s said is the opposite of what’s meant, is the kind of irony you’re probably most familiar with. Also referred to as sarcasm, verbal irony occurs when a character says one thing but means another.

Here’s an example of verbal irony that’s also sarcastic:

“You’re really wasting away to nothing,” Lesley commented to the obese man who was consuming his second dessert.

It’s very easy, and very tempting, to use verbal irony in your writing, but there are two points to be aware of. First, creative writing often tries to re-create the impact of a situation. Saying something untrue to mean something else can accidentally remove the suspension of disbelief. Employing verbal irony creates a mental barrier the reader has to get past in order to understand the situation. The reader has to “get it” to understand the scene correctly. Using irony poorly can mean you confuse your reader, so be careful.

Also, watch out for characters who are frequently sarcastic. This isn’t sympathetic, and if your character routinely uses sarcasm to belittle others, you’ve got to be very careful. Overdo it, and your character ends up being a jerk and your reader stops liking him. Now, there’s nothing wrong with unsympathetic characters, but if you want a sympathetic character, you’d better watch the sarcasm.

Dramatic irony

Next is dramatic irony, or the difference between what a character says or does and what the reader knows to be true. This type of irony occurs when we know something the characters don’t. The classic example is Romeo and Juliet. We all expected Juliet to reawaken, but to Romeo, it appeared she was dead, so he took the poison. Appearance differs from reality, and we are aware of it, creating the dramatic irony in the play.

Dramatic irony is most often employed to create tragedy or comedy. In fact, it was employed much earlier in the Greek play Oedipus the King. The audience knows Oedipus is the murderer he seeks, but he doesn’t. This dramatic irony creates suspense, as the reader tries to anticipate when he will finally learn the truth of the matter.

The following example illustrates a more contemporary use of dramatic irony at work:

The gunner finished spray-painting the big pink peace sign on the left side of the tank before climbing back inside to inventory the ammunition belts.

Situational irony

Situational irony is the difference between how things look and how they really are—between what happens and what should have happened. It’s the subversion of our expectations to produce a result with a troublingly accurate quality.

Some other short examples of situational irony include the spectacle of a tow truck being towed, a fire station burning down, and a man leaping to avoid a revolving water sprinkler and falling into a mud puddle.

Situational irony is also present in O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” in which a girl cuts off her hair to buy her boyfriend a watch chain, and the boyfriend sells his watch to buy the girl a set of combs for her hair.

The following example demonstrates situational irony at work using limited materials and a short sentence:

At the end of the police investigation, the authorities finally arrested the guilty party: Special Investigator Burke.

Remember that however much or how little of it you use, irony should be a tool employed to create drama and interest in your story. And remember that sarcasm used as a tool to belittle others should be included with caution to avoid potentially alienating readers.