Sunday 13 July 2014

Verbal Irony In To Kill A Mockingbird

There are
several examples of verbalused in 's novel, often attached to .  I'll
provide one with which to get you started.

Dr. L. Kip Wheeler provides the
following definition:

IRONY: Cicero referred to irony as
"saying one thing and meaning another." Irony comes in many forms. Verbal irony (also
called sarcasm) is a trope in which a speaker makes a statement in which its actual meaning
differs sharply from the meaning that the words ostensibly express. Often this sort of irony is
plainly sarcastic in the eyes of the reader, but thelistening in the story may not realize the
speaker's sarcasm as quickly as the readers do.

One
example of verbal irony is when Miss Caroline tells Scout that her father does not know how to
teach and therefore cannot teach her to read when she already does read, and quite well. When
Scout complains to , he agrees that they will keep reading, but secretly: this is his
compromise.

The verbal irony appears when Atticus says:


I have a feeling that if you tell Miss Caroline we read every night
she'll get after me, and I wouldn't want her after me.


Atticus is obviously not afraid of Miss Caroline and is intentionally saying something
contrary to what he believes, probably to entertain Scout who has been so
upset.

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