Money makes future more certain
When Kirby sees Ballard passing by his yard, Kirby calls him, for he has some whiskey to sell and he knows for sure that Ballard would be eager to buy it. The only problem is that Ballard has no money, so he promises him to “pay ye tomorrow”, Kirby falls to thinking. He even goes home as if to check whether he has enough whiskey to sell and then he says no to Ballard. The irony is that money makes future more certain and he is definitely not fond of the idea of loss of money.
A horrible sight
Ballard’s father killed himself and “they say he never was right” after that. The old man’s eyes were “run out on stems like a crawfish and his tongue blacker’n a chow dog’s”. That was rather disturbing! The narrator thought that he wished that “if a man wanted to hang hisself he’d do it with poison or something so folks wouldn’t have to see such a thing as that”. The irony is that even if one is so sick and tired of their lives and the society, one still has take into account other people’s feelings. No need to be selfish.
It is difficult to be creative
The dumpkeeper had nine daughters and “named them out of an old medical dictionary gleaned from the rubbish he picked”. Urethra, Cerebella, Hernia Sue etc. The irony is that if one has nine children and no idea at all how to name them, one has to be creative in order to cope with such a difficult task.
