The Irony of Charles Bukowski’s “8 Count”
M. H. Abrams describes “irony” as “[…] dissembling or hiding what is actually the case; not, however, in order to deceive, but to achieve special rhetorical or artistic effects” (“Irony”). It can be grouped into three main categories: verbal irony, dramatic irony and situational irony. The most often used form of irony in literary works is dramatic irony. It involves a situation in which “[…] the character acts in a way we recognize to be grossly inappropriate to the actual circumstances, or expects the opposite of what we know that fate holds in store […]” (“Dramatic irony”). An example of dramatic irony would be hearing one of your friends talk about his plans to propose to his girlfriend even though you know that she has no intentions of getting engaged.
The most ironic component of Charles Bukowski’s
…show more content…
This pressure could have been one of the reasons that triggered his writer’s block in the first place, which would explain the anger-fueled apathy that he addresses the reader with.
In summary, “8 Count” has an inherently ironic nature that is only enhanced by the way it is written As Russell Harrison explains it in his collection of Bukowski essays, “[…] we cannot fully appreciate the ironic situation of a protagonist unless we feel – to some extent – positively involved in his fate” (201). After all, the only people whose fate the reader is more concerned about than the characters of their beloved writers are the writers
Have you ever wanted to be pretty? In the book I read this summer, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, that's all Tally Youngblood dreamed of as she would look out to new pretty town, but after her best friend Peris had turned pretty Tally soon grew alone, But Tally meets a young girl by the name of Shay who speaks of a place called the ‘Smoke’ where they follow their own rules and of a boy named daved. Tally learns to love herself being the way she is in the ‘Smoke’ and learns of other and there lives but it doesn't last long seeing as this was a very special circumstance soon tally learns the truth of her so called paradise.
Irony is one of the rhetorical devices in which it it uncovers the difference between the truth and something expected. Predominantly, it detects the misconceptions or the unfairness of a specific situation. (http://figurativelanguage.net/Irony.html) Most of the time, Frederick Douglass used irony in order to uncover the defect in the reasoning of the issue of slavery. For instance, in the third chapter, Douglass made a description about the obssesive care of his previous master named Colonel Lloyd on his horses.
Verbal irony is an oral statement that implies a meaning opposite to the words, like when Skeeter said, ¨ That’s great, Mother¨, while her mom was comparing other ladies to her life. When actions have opposite effects than intended and expected, it is situational irony. For example, Skeeter had people dump toilets off at Hillys yard to get back at her for making her advertise the Home Sanitation Initiative. However, Hilly uses these toilets to build bathrooms in garages for colored help and drives her initiative. Dramatic irony is when the audience can see that a character is making a terrible mistake that will have a poor outcome while the character is oblivious.
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.
Irony, a kind of literature device, happens when two completely opposite things are placed next to each other for a more impactful effect. Chaim Potok’s The Chosen depicts this literary device a few times in the story. During Danny’s visits to Reuven in the hospital, the two boys reveal many things to each other. Amidst their conversation, the boys’ dream jobs happened to become the center of discussion.
Irony is the most powerful literary device used in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. First, a good example of irony in the story is “They were burdened with sashweights sand bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” (P,2 Line, 11-13) This quote is Ironic as it tells how this system was designed to hide beauty, yet beauty was still shown by the amount of restraints on the person. Second, another good example of irony is, “The spectacles were intended to make him not only half-blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.
Irony may appear in difference ways within literature. Irony changes our expectations of what might happen. It can create the unexpected twist at the end of a story or anecdote that gets people laughing or crying. Verbal irony is intended to be a humorous type of irony. Situational irony can be either funny or tragic.
Xiyu Cheng Professor Fitzsimmons Writing 39B 2 May 2016 The Revelation of the Station Eleven The Station Eleven happens to be published at the thirteenth anniversary of the Nine-Eleven terrorist attacks, the two elevens simultaneously reminding people that the horrifying history of our civilization as well as the unpredictable future. Even though the Nine-Eleven incident was not even close to resemble a destruction of human civilization, but it was an alarm to remind people keep examining their own conscience, this is no doubt one of the main intentions of the Station Eleven by Mandel.
Federigo’s Falcon’s Irony Authors use irony to make their audience stop and think about what has just been said, excite the reader, build suspense, or to even emphasize the idea. There are three types of irony: Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic. In Federigo’s Falcon by Giovanni Boccaccio, all three types of irony are used in different ways throughout the story. For instance, a clear example of Situational Irony is at the end of short story.
Verbal irony involves a character saying one thing, and meaning another. Situational irony consists of what is expected to happen, and what actually happens. Three types of irony found in Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado”, are dramatic, verbal, and situational irony. A good example of dramatic irony occurs when Montresor explains to Fortunato that he is also a mason. Then, Fortunato asks for a sign.
The novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury is an outstanding book that demonstrates a lot of irony. Irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect, according to Oxford Dictionaries. There are three types of irony. which are verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. In most cases, verbal irony is referred more to when words express something contrary to what someone says.
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.
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.
Irony is a technique that involves surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions or contrasts ( Glossary... Pg 1). The greatest example of irony happens when it turns out Armand is the one that comes from black heritage. He learns this when he “finds a letter from his mom to his father explaining how he is black” turning the main plot of this story around (Chopin... Pg 5)
Irony is used by New Criticism as a literary device to give the literature a sense of complexity and deviation. As seen in Texts and Contexts, one of the main characteristics that instills effective work in New Criticism is the ability to be complex, even when seeming simple (Lynn 55). In New Criticism, irony is used as a figure of speech where the speaker 's implication is partially said and partially not said, almost making the reading subjective. The two statements that the speaker have said, and not said are usually in contrast of eachother.