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Hawthorne And Edgar Allan Poe Use Of Irony

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The paradox of the situation at hand is the use of irony in the following short stories: “Rip Van Winkle," "Young Goodman Brown," and "The Cask of Amontillado.” Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe interject the obvious uses of irony throughout their literatures, yet the simplicity of their satire is blind to the characters at hand. Irving, Hawthorne, and Poe envelope their authorships with situational, verbal, and dramatic irony; all of whom use this rhetorical device in a sense to add some incongruity to the story. Nevertheless, these various authors, who each hold their own unique writing style, have the unbecoming audacity to allude the reader from the expected by giving them the unexpected. Irony, “in simple words,
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Edgar Allen Poe uses irony to tell the reader that the foe of the narrator, Fortunato, is going to die but he doesn’t know it. One example of irony is when Fortunato says, “‘the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough’”(Poe, 36). This is an example of situational irony because Fortunato doesn’t know, but when he said that the cough will not kill him, it might lead him to his death when the catacombs he will be sealed in will make his cough deadly. This use of situational irony conveys the theme because even from one insult from Fortunato drove the narrator to take revenge by killing him and he has a dark perspective of how he is going to end Fortunato’s life by making him suffer.

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The Devil in The White City is a nonfiction book, that takes place in the years before, during and after the Chicago’s World Fair in 1893. Erik Larson is famous for writing historical nonfiction; he spends weeks, maybe even months researching the interesting historical events, and writing them for the public to understand in a better context. The two main characters in this interesting historical non-fiction book are; the protagonist, Daniel Hudson Burnham; who is an architect and has built many important structures such as Union Station in Washington D.C. and the Flatiron Building in New York. The antagonist, H.H. Holmes; a doctor that is famous for being one of the most notorious serial killers of all times, especially the urban killings.

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By using irony, readers can hear the wisdom in the older narrator but also get to know the narrator in the story – the younger version. Because irony is used, readers can tell when the ‘character’ narrator is oblivious to being used or discriminated against. Irony allows readers to see how naïve the narrator was when he was younger – something that he himself recognizes as he gets older.

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The Ironic Truth Irony is a complex and important element of literature that can help discover hidden perspectives within characters or hide the truth in plain sight. The story by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a great example the dark ironic twist that happen in the story. The main character, Montresor, is hell-bent on getting his revenge on the man who shamed him, Fortunato. The verbal and dramatic irony that is being used in the story “The Cask of Amontillado” helps hide the true intentions that Montresor has planned for Fortunato. Verbal irony happens when one character says one thing but actually means something completely different.

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When you think of a Puritan society, what comes to your mind? Perfect, flawless, and a religion based on following God? Well, that is what it says on paper, but is it really that perfect? Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne jabs at the Puritans in an attempt to portray just how flawed they really are. After reading the book, you want to think that Hawthorne is telling the story of sinning in a Puritan society.

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In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Solider’s Home” and John Gould’s short story “What You’re Ready For”, the use of irony relates to thematic insights about self-deception. Hemingway explains how having faced the horrors of war, soldiers like Krebs are unable to simply settle down into a regular life yet find themselves isolated from the society they risk their lives to protect resulting in a life full of lies. Gould presents a professor who shares motivational teachings of self-help and spiritual guide, however, he is the one to lose his life. Both characters act strong and hide their feelings by denying the reality of their lives resulting in situational irony, however, they do not share similar experiences that define who they are.

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Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” is the narrative of a man named Montresor who seeks vengeance against a man named Fortunato. Fortunato insults Montresor. Next, Montresor meet Fortunato at a carnival, eventually luring him into the catacombs of his home to bury Fortunato alive. Moreover, different types of irony are portrayed in this short story. Dramatic irony consists of the character in the story knowing less about his or her situation than the reader.

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The first chapter of Irony by Claire Colebrook provided important historical background, laid out complexities and problems, and gave us ways to discern the concept of irony. Her historical background of irony dates all the way back to ancient philosophers, Socrates and Aristophanes. Irony first began as eironeia, then later ironia. Eironeia was referred to as “lying rather than complex dissimulation” which changed in political interaction. Ironia was a trope or figure of speech, an artful way of using language.

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, a woman named Hester Prynne is found guilty of committing adultery. She lives in the Puritan settlement of Boston, Massachusetts where if the town’s laws are broken, the culprit suffers. Throughout the novel the Puritans ridicule and mock Hester for her actions. Through Hawthorne’s use of diction and imagery he exemplifies his disapproval for the unyielding religious punishments of the Puritans. The town’s magistrates condemn Hester to stand on a scaffold in front of the whole town for three hours.

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Irony is often used in literature to illustrate certain situations to the audience. In some pieces of literature that might be pointing out an unjust system, in others that might be to add a comedic effect, but whatever situation the author wants to illustrate, irony is very beneficial. Through small and witty, one-liners, or a bigger dramatic irony situation contrasting two very different situations, irony can be very beneficial for the reader to understand the story. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins have a corrupt dystopian society. Through the use of irony, the author can portray the corruptness to the audience.

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Edgar Allan Poe creates horror and suspense in his use of irony -including verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony-in his short story “ The Tell-Tale Heart”. Verbal irony is when something that is said means the opposite of what is meant. Poe uses verbal irony when he states, “ I loved the old man.” Situational irony is similar. It is defined as when what happens is different from or even the opposite of what we expected.

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Society, cowards with masks. Everyday people put on a new mask for each lie they tell creating a facade just so their perfect self stays pure. But underneath it all, they become dirtier every time the fake words slip out of their mouths. It takes thought, but in the end telling the truth makes people's lives more positive. This message is shown in The Scarlet Letter when Hester Prynne commits adultery and is forced to wear and “A’”, referred to as the Scarlet Letter, her entire life.

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In the short story, “The Open Window”, author Saki (H.H. Munro) uses multiple types of irony to elaborate the sense of the mood to readers. Saki uses dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony to show the differences between the characters’ mindsets and personalities. Using different types of irony in stories makes one able to better understand multiple viewpoints of the characters. Dramatic irony is when the reader comprehends what is going on in the story or knows something the characters do not. An example of dramatic irony is shown in context where Mrs. Sappleton waits for her family to come home.

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Dramatic irony is usually an over the top, tragic form of irony. Both Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” are great examples of an ironic situation. Every expresses the common theme in their own way. Although both of these literally pieces provide us with the theme of irony, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" gives the reader a sense of suspense with the irony that proves to be more effective. Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" emphasizes on how a man’s thoughts and perception can affect oneself and other’s lives.

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In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” irony is applied throughout to help foreshadow future and give more of an insight to the readers, all while adding some humor. Irony is divided into three main types: dramatic, situational, and verbal. Poe uses dramatic irony when he has Fortunato dress as a jester, “a tight-fitting parti-striped dress and his was surmounted by the conical cap and bells” (Poe). The get-up makes Fortunato looks foolish and foreshadows his actions of following Montresor into the catacombs to taste some wine. Montresor even compliments the outfit and says “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met” (Poe), but it was not Fortunato who was in luck, but Montresor who would gain profit of their meeting.

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