Irony in Literature

Alfonso Caballero

John Purcell

ENGL-1302, 333

February 26, 2015

Irony in Literature

Irony is the ingredient that gives the flavor to literature. According to the Dictionary Reference, irony derives from a Latin word which in turn derives from the Greek, and is understood as a veiled mockery. Consists to imply the opposite of what is said by some intonation and subtext. The stories “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, are known by its excellent content, and the irony is revealed as the most important procedure that achieves the aim sought by the author. Furthermore, the irony is a fundamental part of the literature, and will be explained and analyzed how irony is used effectively in these two stories, and its impact on the readers.

The subject of the story “The Necklace” revolves around the life of a beautiful young woman who had grown with certain amenities and who by being pretty, considered that she should have a better luck in life. Unfortunately, she married a modest employee of the ministry of public instruction, who could not give her the luxuries she wanted. One day they were invited to a party by the Minister of Education, and she began to cry because she hadn’t anything to wear "I have no gown, and, therefore, I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I am." (Maupassant 591). Then, she borrowed a necklace given from one of her friends; after the party this was lost and thereafter began his misfortune. She didn’t tell anything to her friend and she had to work hard for ten years to pay another identical necklace, which unfortunately for her, was very expensive. At the end, she says the truth and her friend tells her that the necklace was fake, it was just a cheap copy, giving a dramatic and moralizing ending.

The story of Guy de Maussapant reveals the irony that the ten years of misery and poverty were totally unnecessary if only Mathilde had been honest with her friend. In addition, ironically, when she used that beautiful necklace that made her feel wealthy and of a high class, was actually the beginning of be even poorer because she spent so much time and money in something worthless. Having lost the necklace had seemed to be a fatal error of Mathilde, but the real mistake was not telling the truth and fall prey of her lie. As can be seen, the author uses the situational irony effectively with an easy understanding of it, and, at the same time, gives a moral lesson to all the readers.

On the other hand, the story of the American writer and journalist, Ernest Hemingway, tells about a couple, an American and a girl named Jig. The story unfolds in a train station with an extreme heat, and long white

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