The irony of parental roles.
The most obvious irony in the book is that Jemmy doesn't put up a fight when her father tells her to drop out of high school. Jemmy's dad is an alcoholic, and in their mother's absence, Jemmy is the only other person who can help her little brother and sister survive. The father is absconding his responsibilities to stay drunk, so Jemmy ends up being the parent. When her father says to quit school, that's actually helpful in Jemmy's greater role as her siblings' caretaker. The irony is that the roles have reversed.
The irony of "two selves."
Jemmy's sense of self comes into question often in the book. Sometimes she will just start thinking about her self worth in the prose of the novel, and on one such occasion, she says she feels like "two half persons." This is an ironic analysis, because everyone is two half persons. Everyone has half of their mother's DNA and half of their father's DNA, so literally everyone has that. But what Jemmy means is that her parents belong to races that are treated differently, so that she is made to feel racially inferior to herself. The irony is that having interracial parents makes Jemmy beautiful, but because of racism, it causes her dilemmas.
The irony of the blizzard.
The blizzard is an ironic symbol, because it is a negative symbol, typically speaking, because blizzards represent the full weight of winter's death (typically the snow will kill much of the grass and plants). But for Jemmy, the blizzard starts her down a path of self-love, discovery, and a newfound artistic passion. The symbol is simultaneously deathly and hopeful.
The irony of Jemmy's modeling.
When Otis asks Jemmy to model, something very ironic happens. First of all, her self worth is changed, because she is flattered that he wants to paint her, which makes her consider her beauty. Also, being celebrated teaches her what it's like to celebrate one's self. Suddenly, she realizes that she wants to be an artist. Ironically, being painted made her instantly want to paint things herself, as if destiny had brought this all to pass.
The irony of ill-fitting clothes.
The irony of Jemmy's clothes comes up when Jemmy goes to school and gets called into the principal's office. He tells her that she has done a bad job of being hygienic and well-dressed, but she is wearing clothes that don't fit because she is the victim of serious poverty. She is dirty because her able-bodied father chooses to stay drunk each and every day, so she is her siblings' care-taker. The principal's condescending attitude is ironic, given Jemmy's noble sacrifices.
