In bed with a liar
Emma, Nil’s wife who is mad, constantly complains about everything he does and says. One evening when Nil came home after work, he saw her sleeping. So, he went to the other room to look after children, one of them, Nil, was sick, so he wanted to check out how he is doing. When a child entered Emma’s room she woke up and called her husband. She started screaming on him because children irritate her and she hasn’t been sleeping for four days. When Nil pointed that she had been sleeping when he came in, she went mad and called him a liar. “God help me! To have to lie night after night in the same bed with a liar!” The irony is used for description of Emma’s character and her madness.
Terrible husband
The narrator describes Emma’s attitude towards her husband using irony in order to show that her madness in rather false, it is just her nature – she likes to live that way. Nil loves her and he does everything she asks to avoid scandals, but, unfortunately, Emma never appreciates his efforts. She doesn’t say “thank you” or “please”, she just demands without giving anything in response. “Don’t give the child that rattle! You must be either mad or a brute, and my nerves in this state”. “Light those candles and bring me a wet towel for my head. I must read now, and try and compose my nerves, if I can”. Her egoism is also represented in her attitude toward her children. She hates them and she never spends time with them.
Tea for mummy
Emma is very hard-to-please woman. One day she asked for, or it is better to say ordered a tea. But she wasn’t just staying still and waiting for her tea. Nick hurried up a kettle because Emma was calling every few minutes to know if “that kettle was boiling yet”. He took her one cup of tea, and then another. But she didn’t like both: “She said the tea was slush, and as sweet as syrup, and called for more, and hot water”. The irony is used for intensification the effect of Emma’s words to show how her behavior looks and understate her character in the general picture of the story canvas.
A touch of sun—that’s all
Nil, the eldest son of Emma and Nil, has always been a curious boy. Since his childhood he was convinced that growing up to be a man is a great honor for him. “It’ll be a good while yet before I grow up to be a man, won’t it, father?” But his father didn’t understand why his son is so concentrated on the evident process of growing up. He thinks that his son talks like that just because he had a touch of son. “You’re not well to-night, sonny—that’s what’s the matter. You’re queer, sonny; it’s a touch of sun—that’s all”. The irony here underlines the misunderstanding between the father and son – the things son cares about are complete nonsense.
