Title
The fundamental irony of the book is its title. The romance of the narrator and her boyfriend is not going to last forever, of course. Adding injury to irony is that does not even their first long-term separation.
Tommy and Michael
Ironically falling fall short of the goal of lasting forever is itself ironically foreshadowed by the fate of Tommy Aronson. Tommy is Katherine’s first boyfriend who—in yet another level of irony—blows his shot at taking her virginity by pressing her on the issue. By the time she starts dating Michael, Tommy’s stock in Katherine’s life has collapsed from being a boy she was in love to being just a childish infatuation. By the time the book reaches its conclusion, Tommy and Michael are birds of a feather in the ever-expanding flock of those Katherine left behind.
Mark and Mike
It is probably not a case of irony that the boyfriends of Katherine and the girl who was once her best friend are so similar. It is almost certainly not coincidental that they happen to be named Mark and Michael (or Mike for short.) Katherine complains that she and Janis are no longer as close as they used to be because her relationship with Mark has made her such boring company: they have planned out their entire life together right down to when babies one and two arrive and what their names will be. More than simply boring, there is something in Katherine’s description that indicates a dismissive opinion that there is something kind of ridiculous about such careful planning. This becomes ironic in light of Katherine’s own certainty that she and Michael are destined to be together forever.
Tommy and Erica
A darker sort of irony pervades the connective tissue between Tommy and Erica. Tommy dropped from object of love to infatuation precisely on the basis of putting too much pressure upon Katherine to have sex. She then goes on to paint him in less than flattering terms as flunking out due to an overactive sex life. It is therefore somewhat ironic that Katherine either fails to recognize or—worse—does recognize but fails to care that Erica is doing exactly the same thing in her relationship with Artie. In fact, that relationship is actually more toxic because Erica’s pressure on Artie to have sex with her directly contributes to his suicide attempt. Tommy may be a wolf, but Erica is a she-wolf and Katherine clearly treats both quite differently in an ironic subversion of the double-standard.
Sybil
The opening words of the novel describe Sybil as possessing a “genius I.Q.” and she will later prove extraordinarily proficient at navigating the obstacle course that is getting into the college of her choice. The irony, of course, is that Sybil’s behavior is a display of anything but a genius. She is not just promiscuous, but utterly careless in her promiscuity. She winds up getting pregnant and choosing to give the baby up for adoption. Her decisions in light of this also fail the genius test: she opts for getting an IUD so she can remain just promiscuous rather than considering the option that perhaps being more selective with her sexual partners might be not just safer, but a better alternative all around.
