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Definition of Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given situation, and that of the... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a... read full definition
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Ashoke's Accident:
In Chapter 4, Ashoke gives his son Gogol a book of stories by Nikolai Gogol, hoping that Gogol will love the work of his namesake with the same voracity as his father. Gogol does not fully understand the significance of this gift, clearly never intending to read it. Gogol's incomplete knowledge in this scene results in dramatic irony for the reader:
He has never been told why he was really named Gogol, doesn't know about the accident that had nearly killed his father. He thinks his father's limp is the consequence of an injury playing soccer in his teens. He's been told only half the truth about Gogol: he thinks his father is a fan.
At this point in the novel, readers know of Ashoke's accident and its connection to Gogol's name; all the while, Gogol himself remains unaware of the truth. The narrator reveals this latter point in the passage above. Sadly, as Gogol is unaware of his name's true significance, he disregards the Gogol novel his father gives him as a gift. In part, Gogol's disregard for his father's gift is a natural side-effect of his disdain for the name "Gogol." Gogol wants nothing to do with his namesake—resents him even, unaware of Ashoke's traumatic and formative relationship with the Ukrainian writer.
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