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Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Chapter 8: Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold
Explanation and Analysis—Music Box:
In a junk store that she often frequents, Esperanza and Nelly encounter a music box that is so beautiful it can only be described through simile, although the store owner ironically refuses to sell it:
Then he starts it up and all sorts of things start happening. It’s like all of a sudden he let go a million moths all over the dusty furniture and swan-neck shadows and in our bones. It’s like drops of water. Or like marimbas only with a funny little plucked sound to it like if you were running your fingers across the teeth of a metal comb.... This, the old man says shutting the lid, this ain’t for sale.
Esperanza's transcendent musical experience requires consecutive similes to explain. The use of similes conveys Esperanza's childlike perspective on the world: when she has these amazing and new experiences, she struggles to explain them without gesturing towards other, more familiar experiences.
The moment is also one of situational irony, as the man who owns the junk store doesn't want to sell the music box to two children who frequently browse the store. Considering that the man owns a store, where he attempts to sell antique and thrifted items for profit, the fact that he won't sell a music box is ironic and counterintuitive. By refraining from selling the music box, the man suggests that some things are more important than money: namely, experiences and memories. For the owner of the store, this unassuming box is more important than the money he could sell it for, almost certainly because its music evokes positive memories for him (similar to the Spanish music Esperanza's dad listens to as he shaves). The House on Mango Street urges readers to privilege experiences above all else, and this instance of figurative language is one example of what doing so might look like.
Chapter 10: Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin
Explanation and Analysis—Waving:
In a moment of dramatic irony after being driven around in a fancy car by Marin's cousin Louie's other cousin, Esperanza describes her and the other kids waving at Louie's cousin as he is arrested:
Marin screamed and we ran down the block to where the cop car’s siren spun a dizzy blue. The nose of that yellow Cadillac was all pleated like an alligator’s, and except for a bloody lip and a bruised forehead, Louie’s cousin was okay. They put handcuffs on him and put him in the backseat of the cop car, and we all waved as they drove away.
The moment is one of dramatic irony, as the reader understands the seriousness of the situation in a way a young Esperanza does not, which makes her waving as the cop car drives away feel out of place and unexpected. This moment highlights Esperanza's naivety, as she doesn't grasp the gravity of the situation; whether the cops wrongfully arrested Louie's cousin post-accident or he stole the car to begin with, Louie's cousin is in a bad situation.
In this case, Esperanza has growing up to do but in a way that will bring her sorrow: understanding that Marin's cousin's cousin is being arrested and all that comes with that is not an experience one should look forward to, as she often does to other aspects of growing up. Ultimately, coming of age involves both ups and downs, and this one moment of dramatic irony illustrates how much growing up Esperanza has left to do and the diverse array of experiences that maturing will bring, some of which the reader is exposed to over the rest of the novel.
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