How Does Sherman Alexie Use Irony In A Short Story

According to “19 Most Ironic Facts of all Time,” by Buzzfeed, in 1985, a man in New Orleans drowned at a party thrown by lifeguards. The party was thrown to celebrate a year at the pool with no drowning’s. As many know, life has many events that include irony. Irony could include families, vacation, or just strange things that happen throughout a family. To illustrate irony in the three short stories: Sherman Alexie’s “Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hindrix Play ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ At Woodstock,” Flannary O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children.” Although the three short stories include different characters and have

First of all, the irony is shown when the fathers hero dies. A person would expect a hero to make decent choices. In this example, the father’s hero did drugs. In Alexie’s short story it states, “Only the good die young,” my father said. “No,” my mother said. “Only the crazy people choke to death on their own vomit” (Alexie 32). This quote explained, because Jimi Hendrix did drugs, he had died at a young age. Furthermore, it is unexpected to make war and not peace. In this example, a peaceful event turns into a war. In the story, Alexie states, “Anyway, my father was arrested, charged with attempted murder, which was reduced to assault with a deadly weapon” (Alexie 25). The meaning of this quote is, the father was involved with the war, at this peaceful event and ended up being arrested. As one can see, Alexie’s short story includes several examples of

First off, an angel is found. It is expected that the angel would be young, have beautiful wings, and clean. Instead, the angel is old, has wings that are falling apart, and the angel is found lying in mud, so he is dirty. In Marquez’s short story, it states, “He had to go close very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn’t get up, impeded by his enormous wings” (Marquez 1). The meaning of this quote is a dirty angel was found in the mud and he could not get up. Additionally, it is expected that the owner of the angel would be sad or even angry when the angel left. In this example, Elisenda felt happy and relieved when the angel left. In this short story, Marquez states, “With the money they saved they built a two- story mansion with balconies and gardens and high netting so the crabs wouldn’t get in during the winter, and with iron bars on the windows so that the angels wouldn’t get in” (Marquez 3). To continue, this quote means that with all the money they earned from the people who came to visit the angel they built a huge house and spent money on other necessities. To conclude, the short story written by Marquez includes various instances of