Alberta's Pregnancy
Alberta's pregnancy is ironic because it spontaneously resolves a choice she has spent much of the novel agonizing over. Alberta has always wanted to have children, but cannot seem to find an arrangement that would allow her to have them and still keep her freedom. Much of her plot line throughout the novel involves her considering different options about how to have a child and becoming increasingly worried and frustrated. Then, when she finds herself pregnant by accident, all of these decisions vanish. This irony reveals that individuals often see themselves as more in control of their fate than they actually are, and highlights how events will often unfurl according to their design. In the end, all Alberta has to do is accept her circumstances, not try and control them.
The Return of the Elders
The return of the elders to the mental hospital at the end of the novel is deeply ironic. Their disappearance creates a crisis, and leads to the involvement of police. Dr. Hovaugh is frantic to find them and bring them back, and he does everything he can to try and locate them. However, in the end, all of these efforts are futile and instead the elders simply turn up back at the hospital, peacefully, when they have completed their mission and are ready to go back. This irony suggests that events tend to unfold according to their own timeline, and can seldom be rushed. Despite Dr. Hovaugh's seeming power and authority, he can't control the elders, who are linked to deeper forces of nature, the seasons, and cycles of creation. They will come and go on their own schedule and cannot be controlled by human force.
Norma and Lionel Helping the Elders
When Norma and Lionel see the four elders by the side of the road, they assume the elders need help. While this assumption is reasonable, it is also ironic in that the elders have much more power and wisdom than they do. Lionel in particular assumes that as elderly individuals they must be less competent and out of touch, while the elders understand themselves and the world around them much better than he does. In the end, they are forces of change who help him. This irony suggests a contrast between a Westernized worldview that prizes whatever is most modern and up to date, and a more traditional Native worldview that understands the value of traditional wisdom and the knowledge of the past.
Karen's Death
Karen's death in a car accident is cruelly ironic, because she was ill with cancer at the time. It seemed more likely to Eli, and would have been more expected by a reader, for her to have died of her illness. The irony of her actual death is significant because it shows that it is impossible to predict what kind of tragedies might occur, and that while people often worry about one thing, they may never be able to predict the thing that will actually cause them suffering. The irony here reaffirms the essential unpredictability of the world, and suggests the futility of trying to anticipate or control too much.
