This is not the truth
Jerry talks about his older brother, Seymour, and how he was his role model from an early age. Jerry built this ideal image when it came to his brother and he refused anything else that was not according to his point of view. It is ironic thus to see that after Seymour died, Jerry learned that his brother was far from being the perfect role model he painted him to be and that in fact Seymour was extremely flawed and imperfect.
Nothing ever happens here
The action described in the book takes place in a small town in rural America. All the main characters were born there and ended up living there for the rest of their lives. The characters refused to move to a neighboring bigger city because they saw it as a place filled with depravity and dangers. What is ironic however is to see that the small city is described as being a lot more dangerous than the bigger city.
Against the war
When Merry first got married to Swede, she makes it clear that she is against the war and any form of violence. It is thus ironic to see Merry is the person who plans a terrorist attack and who causes the death of a person.
The pacifists
As the Vietnam War rages on, more and more pacifists groups start to appear all over the country. Those groups tried to stop the war and were willing to do everything in their power to stop even more people from being sent to Vietnam. Because of this, it is thus ironic to see how those groups engaged in a large number of violent actions in order to stop more violence from taking place.
The unfaithful one
Swede finds out towards the middle of the novel that his wife cheated on him on numerous occasions. This makes Swede hate his wife and want to take revenge on her. It is thus ironic to find out towards the end of the novel that Swede cheated on his wife as well, long before she was unfaithful to him.
