Flannery O'Connor's Use of Irony

Flannery O'Connor's Use of Irony

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Irony is used in stories to show that there is a difference in reality and the way things appear to be either in terms of meaning,‭ ‬action,‭ ‬or situation.‭ ‬In two of Flannery O'Conner's short stories entitled‭ "‬Good Country People,‭" ‬and‭ "‬A Good Man Is Hard to Find,‭" ‬she uses the technique of irony to help her create various different degrees of abnormal characters and situations.‭ ‬These seemingly intellectual people act abnormally in order to satisfy their own selfish desires‭; ‬likewise,‭ ‬the seemingly normal situations are misleading in the way that they appear to be average but result in deviant chaos.‭ ‬There are many different examples of these awry characters and circumstances in these short stories.‭ ‬There are also examples of the different types of irony that Flannery O'Connor uses,‭ ‬such as verbal irony,‭ ‬dramatic irony,‭ ‬and situational irony.‭

Verbal irony occurs when the character's words have an underlying meaning that is the opposite of what he or she really said.‭ ‬Much of the irony in‭ "‬Good Country People,‭" ‬is in the title.‭ ‬Mrs.‭ ‬Hopewell hires the Freemans because they are‭ "‬good country people‭"; ‬however,‭ ‬we learn that Mrs.‭ ‬Freeman has to have her nose in everyone's business.‭ ‬We also learn that she has‭ "‬a special fondness for the details of secret infections,‭ ‬hidden deformities,‭ ‬assaults upon children,‭" ‬of which she‭ "‬preferred the lingering or incurable‭ (‬O'Connor‭)‬.‭" ‬It seems that she has a very perverse nature to be considered a‭ "‬good country‭" ‬person.‭ ‬The title‭ "‬A Good Man Is Hard to Find‭" ‬is ironic as well.‭ "‬The declarative sentence issues both warning and challenge.‭" ‬(Nester‭)‬ Although the grandmother uses the escaped convict called The Misfit as a support in her argument as why not to go to Florida,‭ ‬when she encounters the Misfit she tells him that he is a good man many times.‭ "‬I know you're a good man‭ ‬...‭ ‬I know you must come from nice people‭ (‬O'Connor‭)‬.‭" ‬Society would definitely not consider an escaped murderer a‭ "‬good man.‭"

Dramatic Irony is when the reader is able to have a greater knowledge about the current situation then the characters themselves.‭ ‬A good example of Dramatic irony is the character of Mrs.‭ ‬Hopewell‭;‬ she‭ ‬is convinced that she has everything under control,‭ ‬and that she is in control of everything.‭ ‬She believes that she has the ability to recognize wholesome people from corrupt people,‭ ‬and she prides herself in the fact that she can take advantage of someone's bad qualities and use them for good.‭ ‬She is the type of person who is constantly trying to find the good in every situation and she ultimately hopes that everything goes well.‭ ‬Ironically,‭ ‬nothing ever turns out the way she wishes.‭ ‬Her only daughter is a complete pessimist and does everything she can to prove that she is an individual who does not care about other people's opinions.‭ ‬Although Mrs.‭ ‬Hopewell is convinced that Manley Pointer is a good wholesome man,‭ ‬in the end he turns out to be the most corrupt character of all.‭ ‬Another example of dramatic irony can be found in‭ "‬A Good Man Is Hard to Find.‭" ‬After The Misfit has the grandmother's son and grandson taken into the woods and shot the reader is under no illusion about what The Misfit intends to do with the rest of the family.‭ ‬The grandmother,‭ ‬however,‭ ‬is still oblivious to what is going on.‭ ‬After the children's mother and June Star are shot,‭ ‬the grandmother