Story Development in Fiction

Resonance #5: Irony in Fiction

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An artist has only one goal in the presentation of art and that is to present that emotion or situation as accurately as possible: to create the emotion or situation. Mood helps create that emotion and sometimes, as with the metaphor, it is created through the use of opposites or dissimilarities.

These dissimilarities can also include how the artist feels about the topic, the writer’s attitude. Sometimes, a writer wants to set up a dissimilarity between what is happening and how you (and the writer) feel about that.

Irony: A contrast between actions or speech and intentions.  There are two main types of irony, Verbal and Dramatic.

Verbal Irony: This is a contrast between what is stated and what is suggested. If the contrast is an exaggeration, it is known as overstatement, "This mountain of man." The opposite of exaggeration is understatement, as calling a plane crash an "unscheduled landing." A particular form of irony that is crude and aggressive is sarcasm.

Dramatic Irony: This is a situation that stands in contrast to what the character’s think. The reader or viewers know the truth; the characters do not. This is often used in works to increase tension and suspense. An example from a suspense film would be when the protagonist mentions to a partner, "I wish I could get my hands on that terrorist," and that terrorist is walking the opposite direction, just out of arm’s reach.

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