Wrongful Accusation (Situational Irony)
After Sam Lowbridge’s racist rhetoric at the Spring Fete, Meena grows weary of her English neighbors, at times leading her to presumption. For example, when Nanima returns from buying groceries at Mr. Ormerod’s shop, Meena reads the receipt and believes Mr. Ormerod has overcharged Nanima sixpence. Meena assumes Mr. Ormerod has taken advantage of Nanima, because Nanima only speaks Punjabi. But when Meena directly accuses Mr. Ormerod of fraud, Mr. Ormerod reveals that Nanima had secretly purchased a chocolate bar, hence the extra sixpence. Here is an example of situational irony, wherein earlier incidents of racism lead Meena (and the reader) to mistrust and blame Mr. Ormerod when Mr. Ormerod is blameless; cocoa-loving Nanima is the real culprit!
Misled Tracey (Situational Irony)
On multiple occasions in Anita and Me, Tracey tries to protect her sister, Anita, from perceived threats, without Tracey having a complete understanding of the circumstances, leading to irony and misunderstanding. In the final chapter, Tracey knocks on Meena’s door, greatly distraught. Meena asks, “Where’s your dad? What’s going on?” and Tracey replies, “He… he’s killing her! He’s g…g…going to kill her!” (p. 308). Through this dialogue, Meena, and the reader, are led to believe Anita’s father is abusing Anita. However, following Tracey further, Meena discovers the “he” to which Tracey refers is Sam Lowbridge: on the unlit Big House property, they find Sam lying atop Anita—they are having sex. Anita lies motionless and Tracey runs to attack Sam. But, Anita jumps up to stop Tracey; Anita, in her dark humor, was pretending to be passed out. In this example of situational irony, Tracey’s misunderstanding leads Meena and the reader to believe Anita is in physical peril, when, in actuality, Anita was simply messing around with Sam.
A Child’s Point of View (Dramatic Irony)
Dramatic irony regularly appears in Meena’s narration, specifically when her descriptions lay bare her youth. For example, in describing Uncle Alan, Meena says, “He seemed ancient, at least twenty-eight” (p. 41). To a nine-year-old Meena, Uncle Alan may seem old, but most readers will recognize that Alan’s age, 28, is far from “ancient”—in fact, Alan is relatively youthful, himself.
Friendship with Anita (Dramatic Irony)
At times, Meena’s positive feelings towards Anita seem to contradict the reality that Anita is often an inconsiderate friend—an example of dramatic irony, wherein the reader has a clearer view of their friendship than Meena does. For example, in Chapter 3, Meena says she is “having the best day of my life being Anita Rutter’s new friend” (p. 60), even though Meena has just been disinvited from having tea with Anita, likely because of Meena’s race.
