The darkest element
In the beginning of the story, Dryer’s assistant notes how Sir Christopher refused to allow dead people to be buried on church grounds because he saw them as being unholy and as being detrimental to the well-being of the church. In the same context, Dryer notes ironically that the Churches were built out of "Coles’’, the darkest element that has the power to hide even the sun. Through this, Dryer wanted to point out how even though the dead bodies were seen as being unclean, the material used to build the churches should have been considered unclean as well.
Did not enjoyed dark thing
When Dryer talked about his life as a child, he mentioned how he was not interested at all in the things the other boys were into. When the boys wanted to get into churches to mess with holly elements and when they wanted to say prayers backwards to invoke Satan, Dryer did not get involved and did not liked to be near them. All this is ironic especially considering the way in which Dryer grew up to be and the things he became interested in.
Those who took care of him
Dryer mentioned how when he was 11 his family was affected by the plague. Both his mother and his father were infected by the plague but despite them being powerless in front of the disease, Dryer refused to help them when they needed him to. This is ironic especially when considering the sacrifices his parents made for him and the love he was treated with by them.
Churches built on pagan worship grounds
Another ironic element is presents by Nicholas Dryer who talks about the places where the most important Churches are built. He claims that many of those Churches were built on places where pagan worship grounds existed. This element is presented as being ironic because many people insisted in the past that the place where churches be built to also be holly grounds and not be affected by death or any other things considered by them as being unclean.
Dead man arise
An ironic idea is presented when the story returns to the modern times. Then, the narrator presents a scene during which a small group of children play. One of the children is blinded by a cloth put over his eyes whole the rest of the children form a circle around him. After some time, the children shout "Dead man arise!’’ and the blindfolded child has to catch someone else from the group. This play is ironic because the children play it on the grounds were countless people died because of the plague.
