Student Question
What is the irony in the following conversation from Death of a Salesman? What type of irony is it and what purpose does it serve in the play?
Charley, sitting down at the kitchen table opposite Willy: Couldn't sleep good. I had a heartburn.
Willy: Well, you don't know how to eat.
Charley: I eat with my mouth.
Willy: No, you're ignorant. You gotta know about vitamins and things like that.
Charley: Come on, let's shoot. Tire you out a little.
Willy, hesitantly: All right. You got cards?
Charley, taking a deck from his pocket: Yeah, I got them. Someplace. What is it with those vitamins?
Willy, dealing: They build up your bones. Chemistry.
Charley: Yeah, but there's no bones in a heartburn.
Willy: What are you talking' about? Do you know the first thing about it?
Charley: Don't get insulted.
Willy: Don't talk about something you don't know anything about.
Quick answer:
In this conversation, verbal and dramatic irony are present. Verbal irony arises as Willy, who has health problems, lectures Charley on health, despite his own ignorance. Dramatic irony is evident because the audience knows Willy will die, making his health advice to Charley ironically futile. This irony underscores Willy's denial of reality and his fragile self-image, highlighting his inability to face his own vulnerabilities and foreshadowing his tragic end.
There are two types of irony occuring here: both verbal irony and dramatic irony. This dialogue between Charley and Willy comes towards the beginning of the play, but after it has been clearly established that Willy has certain health issues. Thus it is ironic that Willy tries to lecture Charley on his own health and presents himself as being an expert on health issues such as vitamins. Willy of course misinterprets Charley's concern for his health as criticism and attacks back. Willy has created such an image of success for himself that he cannot bear that bubble to be pricked, even by his best friend who cares for him. Dramatic irony also occurs in that the audience knows that the "hero" of the story referred to in the title will die, and thus the audience finds it ironic that Willy lectures Charley on health issues when we know that he will eventually die himself.
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