Editor's Choice
Compare the use of irony in "Just Lather, That's All" and "The Gift of the Magi."
Quick answer:
Both "Just Lather, That's All" and "The Gift of the Magi" employ situational irony to create surprising endings. In "Just Lather, That's All," the barber believes Captain Torres is unaware of his rebel sympathies, only to discover Torres knew all along. This revelation shifts our perspective on Torres. In "The Gift of the Magi," Della and Jim sell their prized possessions to buy gifts for each other, only to find the gifts are now unusable, highlighting their selflessness and love.
The stories are similar in their use of irony to create an unexpected ending. They both revolve around the idea of what the characters do and don't know about each other.
In "The Gift of the Magi" both husband and wife know what the other's most prized possession is. They understand that each has one valuable belonging and decide to get gifts which will enhance the value of those objects.
Of course, what they don't know is that each of them have sold their own valuable item in order to buy a gift.
The ending of the story, and the surprise plot twist, happen when what they didn't know is revealed.
The same thing happens in "Just Lather, That's All." The barber knows that he is a rebel and he knows that this could be an opportunity to kill Captain Torres.
What he doesn't know is that Captain...
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Torres also knows all of this information, and actually the barber is in far more danger than the captain.
Again, when Captain Torres reveals this information at the end we get the plot twist that makes the story complete.
Very good question. Well, the central irony to "Just Lather, That's All" is that the barber feels that Captain Torres does not know that he is a rebel sympathiser, and thus he has his massive internal conflict over whether to kill him or not. However, it is only after the shave, as Captain Torres is leaving, that he reveals to both the barber and to the reader that he knew all along that the barber was a rebel sympathiser. This of course radically changes our opinion of Captain Torres.
In "The Gift of the Magi," on the other hand, the massive irony is situational. Again, we only come to discover the irony as Della does, when she realised with a sinking realisation that both herself and Jim have sold their most precious possessions to buy a gift for the other that they now are unable to use. The use of situational irony in this story serves to highlight their self-sacrificial nature and reinforce the message of what true love is in terms of Christmas gift giving.
How does irony affect the mood in "Just Lather, That's All" and "The Gift of the Magi"?
Well, in "Just Lather, That's All," the major piece of irony is that we find out at the end that Captain Torres knew all along that the barber was a rebel, and yet chose not to kill him. This effects the story greatly because we have a lot more respect for Captain Torres in terms of his bravery to allow himself to be shaved by a rebel but also in what he says about it being hard to kill a man as he leaves - perhaps we finish the story with a new-found respect for Captain Torres.
How is irony used similarly in "Just Lather, That's All" and "The Gift of the Magi"?
Certainly both of these excellent short stories are famed for their use of irony and how the surprising twists in both tales yield unforgettable endings. However, when we think of irony, it is important to recall that there are three types: dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. Dramatic irony is when the audience and other characters know something that a character does not in a play or a novel. One of the best examples is the dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet, when we as an audience know that Juliet is not dead, but Romeo does not, and kills himself anyway. Verbal irony is when a character says something but actually means the opposite of what they say. Lastly, situational irony describes an event that is actually contrary to what we expected, giving us a surprise ending.
It is clear, therefore, that when we consider the three types of irony, it is situational irony that is used in both of these tales to devastating effect. It is only in the last lines that we are told that Captain Torres knew about the barber's associations with the rebels, and it is only towards the end of "The Gift of the Magi" that we are told what precisely Jim has sold to buy Bella her beloved combs. The surprise endings in both of these excellent stories is what makes them truly memorable.