Acquainted with the Night Group

Question:


nadeeno
Student
College - Junior

Is the title "Acquainted with the Night" ironic and why?

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Posted by nadeeno on Tuesday April 8, 2008 at 8:49 AM and tagged with acquainted with the night, irony.

Answers:


  1. michael336 Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    One's first thought in reading the title would be that the speaker is up to some nefarious purpose, pursuing nightime activities that could not bear the light of day.  It seems sneaky, and even evil.  Yet in reading the poem, we see that the speaker is acquainted with night as an observer.  Yes, he sees the sadness and the crime, but he is not part of it.  His acquaintance is only from a distance, not by direct participation.  Therefore, the irony lies in the reader's expectation of a sinister narrator, when in fact he is a neutral observer, thus causing the reader to question exactly the level of this "acquaintance."

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    Posted by michael336 on Thursday August 28, 2008 at 4:11 PM