Situational Irony: Irony of an Imminent Attack
When Zack and his colleagues get into the military base, they are informed that humans have been preparing for an alien attack for about forty years. The situational irony comes from both readers and characters because nobody expects aliens to inform humans about a potential attack. If aliens wanted to strike humanity, they could have done that without alerting them. Therefore, it is ironic for aliens to warn humans of an impending attack.
Situational Irony: Irony of Staging Death
Xavier Lightman gets an accident, and government officials fake his death to recruit him as a military general. Xavier’s son takes more than eighteen years to learn that his father is still alive. The situational irony comes when readers question why Zack took that long to realize that his father is not dead. It is ironic to fake death for more than eighteen years. Managers administer factories, and it is almost impossible for military officers to collude with factory officials to fake death. Family members can file lawsuits leading to convictions. Therefore, staging Xavier’s death is ironic.
Dramatic Irony: Irony of Unidentified Flying Object
Zack Lightman spots an unidentified flying object (UFO) through the classroom’s window. Ironically, The UFO resembles a spacecraft from a video game called Armada. The other students seem not to have spotted the UFO. As such, Zack starts doubting his sanity. The dramatic irony comes from readers anticipating to know whether the UFO resembles the spacecraft from Armada. The readers know that the purpose of creating Armada is to prepare for an imminent attack.
Comic Irony: Irony of testing humanity preparation skills in case of the alien threat.
Ultimately, readers realize that there was no impending attack. Humans were only testing how they can respond to an alien invasion. However, comical irony comes when people discover that millions of innocent lives have been lost due to a test. No government will allow people to lose their lives due to a test. It is ironic for EDA to cause mass deaths of civilians in the name of testing the response of humanity towards aliens’ threats.
Dramatic Irony: Irony of Video Game Simulation.
The whole narrative involves dramatic irony. In fact, it is ironic for EDA to create a video game and allude that they will use it to train people on how to respond to aliens’ invasions. Readers are aware that video game simulations cannot be used to teach people about real situations. Thus, dramatic irony comes where the audience learns that Armada was created to train humanity about a potential alien’s invasion.
