Saturday, July 9, 2011

What moments reveal irony in The Great Gatsby? What chapters are they in and what does the irony reveal?

First of all, there are three types of irony--



Verbal: a discrepancy between what is said and what is meant


Dramatic: when the audience know more than the characters do


Situational: when the opposite of what is expected occurs


The irony in The Great Gatsby is mostly dramatic/situational. To answer your question, there aren't three particular moments of irony, but there are a few that stand out.


1). When Myrtle, Tom Buchanon's mistress, is struck and killed by Jay Gatsby's car, he logically assumes that Gatsby was the one that killed her. However, ironically, Daisy was the one driving, and Tom does not know that.


2). When Tom finds out about the wreck in #1, he tells Myrtle's husband, who owns an auto repair shop, that he finally has business. It's irony because he realizes later that the person struck was his mistress.


3). Everyone comes to Gatsby's parties, but no one comes to his funeral.

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