The irony of the fathers
The absence of the fathers of Leon and Jake throughout the text is paradoxical. Leon's father is a West Indian, and Jake's father is a British. Leon and his brother Jake grow up like orphans because their fathers have absconded their parenting roles. Despite knowing that Carol, the boys’ mother is psychologically unstable to care for the kids, the fathers are nowhere to be seen.
The paradox of age
One of the primary paradoxes in the novel is the reversal of roles. Leon is a 9-year-old boy who takes up the responsibility of caring for his younger brother and mother. On the contrary, the mother is supposed to take care of her children and not vice versa. Leon's mother puts her interests first instead of caring for the children. As a result, social services take the children from Carol and put them in the public for adoption.
The irony of the Social Services department
The social services department is ironic because it categorizes children based on race, which promotes discrimination against biracial children. For instance, the social services classify Jake as British and Leon as Indian. As a result, Leon lives in the social services premises for several days before getting a foster parent because no one wants to adopt an Indian child.
