Irony ELIC

1.

“And then, all of a sudden, it made perfect sense. All of a sudden I understood why, when mom asked where I was going, and I said ‘Out,’ she didn’t ask any more questions. She didn’t have to, because she knew.”

The fact that the mother knew all the time that her son was looking for the key is ironic, since it is the opposite of what one would expect from a mother. Of course the reader asks him or herself how it is possible for the mother not to see that her son is wandering through New York, but it is actually not expected that she knows and therefore it is irony.

2.

When Oskar finds the owner of the key it has nothing to do with his father but has to do with the father of somebody else. It opens a safe deposit lock, but is irrelevant for the reasons why he was looking for the key. The reader expected the novel and the quest to make perfect sense when the key was found, however it turned out that this is not the case

3. When the grandmother writes down her life story for Thomas Sr. she only gives him white pages and he and the reader assume it is because the typewriter is broken and she does not see anymore. Later on the reader finds out that that was on purpose, irony, since it is unexpected.

4. Oskar is a very knowledgeable boy, even smart, but at the same time he is incredibly naive, such as in some of the theories and strategies he develops in his search.

5. The fact that on his search for his father he actually finds his grandfather. Clues such as the name written in the drawing shop lead to his grandfather.