Many authors use irony in their stories. There are different forms ofirony, including verbal, situational, and dramatic irony.
Irony adds atwist at the end of the story and leaves the readers a little confused. Irony plays a big part in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “TheLottery. ” Throughout the story, the reader is led to believe that thelottery being held within the community is an exciting and wonderful thing. What the reader sees is a small, close-knit community, a community thatseems almost like a big family, gathering for this event. The storyfocuses on the tension of the crowd while the lots are drawn by the head ofeach family.
The reader is surprised to find that the “winner” is upsetinstead of filled with joy. The reader is even more surprised when thewinner or, more accurately, the loser is so upset that she tries to awardsomeone else with the honor. At the end of the story, we find out that theprize for being the winner of the lottery is that the winner will be killedby stoning. The plot of the “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant, is even more ironicthan that of “The Lottery”. A beautiful women who is poverty strickenloses what she presumes to be a valuable necklace. After losing thenecklace, she and her husband become engulfed in debt by borrowing fromusurers and friends in order to replace the lost necklace.
The couplespends years living in poverty while repaying the debts. The situationalirony is revealed when the reader and the woman learn that the necklace wasa fake and was not worth nearly the money the couple spent replacing thenecklace. In “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” the citizens live in a Utopiansociety, a society with no crime or guilt of any kind. It is the kind ofsociety that many people have dreamed of for years. The ironic twist comesfrom the famous cliche, “If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.
“The drawback of this Utopian society is that in order for the citizens tomaintain the Utopia, a young child must be tortured. The dramatic irony isthat suffering of one child results in the ultimate happiness of a wholecommunity. Authors often use situational, dramatico r verbal irony in theirstories to surprise the reader at the end of the story. This gives thereader a little shock and leaves the reader thinking about the wholestory.
It makes the reader re-think the plot and his expectations of theending of the story.
