Wreak Havoc in Your Characters: What?!
Why do I advice you to wreak havoc in your characters? Here’s the simple idea of it, imagine yourself as a reader, you read a really good character, very likeable even better than most real-life people. But then they (or the character/characters) make a decision you know will send them right into the arms of a waiting killer or into the path of a car with the brakes cut.
This is the heart-wrenching essence of tragic irony—a literary device as old as Greek legends that entwines fate, free will, and the stark reality of consequences. There a few types of tragic irony present in stories.
Situational Irony
This is what most people consider “irony” if you just say the word itself. Situational irony happens when the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what you (or a character) expect it to be. Example, the main character seeks out courage/an item of importance but have already possessed it all along or a detective who was looking for the culprit founds out that he was one of the accomplice to the crime.
We could take an example from Harry Potter, where in the 7th book, Deathly Hallows, discover that was he was the horcrux, and to kill Voldemort, he has to sacrifice himself. The realization of this, was his irony.
Another example I encountered was in the book “Lonely Castle in the Mirror,” where the key to their wishes (the characters’ objective) was cleverly concealed in plain sight, right under their noses.
Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when there’s a gap between spoken words and intended meaning—essentially, it’s sarcasm. To convey it effectively, emphasize specific words, incorporate non-verbal cues, or exaggerate reactions, ensuring clarity for your readers. Example:
“Oh, how pretty you are,” Chrissy complimented her colleague with an exaggerated grin, her sincerity nowhere to be found.
(emphasizing the word pretty and the use of exaggerated grin)
“I would never do that!,” Sarah replied.
(emphasizing the word never and the use of “!” to denote exaggeration)
Dramatic Irony/Tragic Irony
Both dramatic and tragic irony occurs when the readers or audience know something the characters don’t. This is a great way of generating strong emotions: excitement, dread, anxiety, anticipation, etc. In almost all situations, it generates some sort of tension. The difference between the two is that :
Dramatic irony – gives a happier end; whileTragic irony – gives as the name suggest, a tragic end.However both is a great way to create more suspense in the story. Generally for irony to happen we need : installation, exploitation, and resolution. For example (Tragic Irony), in one POV we are introduced to the killer and then in the second chapter second POV, we are introduced to our main character.
As the killer gets closer to target, we started gets worried for the character as she doesn’t know that danger was approaching her while we readers do.
Installation : The killer was stalking the girl while she lives her life unknown to it.
Exploitation : She found that she possessed a strange neighbor and along the way discover more clues related to her stalker (unknown to her but known to us readers, because we are reading the killer/stalker’s POV of how he is dropping these things at her).
Resolution : She realized that her neighbor was the stalker and he wants to kill her.
See you in the next post as I compile a little short tip list on how to apply them to your story that you are crafting.
References:
https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/irony/situational-irony-examples
