Ranna's escape (Verbal Irony)
When describing how Ranna escaped violence in India, Lenny describes his “chance—if the random queries of five million refugees seeking their kin in the chaos of mammoth camps all over West Punjab can be called anything but chance—reunited him with his [family].” This is an example of verbal irony because the speaker actually means that his situation was quite unlucky.
Godmother's connections (Verbal Irony)
Lenny says that if not for Godmother’s connections in the police department that pushed them to rescue Ayah, the situation “could have been consigned to the ingenious bureaucratic eternity.” From the context, it is clear that the Pakistani bureaucracy is not “ingenious” at all but slow and ineffective.
Masseur's death (Situational Irony)
Masseur is the most peaceful character in the story and is someone who uses his hands to heal and give pleasure. His gruesome death is an example of situational irony, because his fate is completely different from what the reader would expect.
Shapely foot (Verbal Irony)
"What if I have to labour at learning spelling and reciting poems and strive with forty other driven children to stand first, second or third in class? So far I’ve been spared the idiocy—I am by nature uncompetitive—but the sudden emergence from its cocoon of a beautifully balanced and shapely foot could put my sanguine personality and situation on the line."
Because Lenny has polio, she is sometimes exempt from going to school like other children her age. Here, she humorously discusses having a well-shaped and healthy foot as a bad thing, because it will force her to join the "idiocy" that other children have to deal with at school.
