"Glad to see you working hard" (Verbal Irony)
Forced to help on the boat while Dad, Jeff, and Martin dive for abalone, Miles self-consciously tries to look busy because he knows he will be criticized for being lazy. He offers to help Martin clean his catch, but Martin insists it isn't Miles's job and tells Miles to have a cup of tea. Jeff, a much crueler man than Martin, surfaces just as Miles lets his guard down and takes a sip while looking at some seals. In an instance of verbal irony, in which the speaker means the opposite of what he says, Jeff says, "Glad to see you working hard, Miles." With this comment, Jeff reinforces Miles's fear that he would be criticized for not working as hard as the men.
George Knows Harry's Name (Situational Irony)
When Harry follows Jake the dog to George Fuller's shack on the outskirts of town, Harry is hesitant to come too close to the property, as he has heard frightening rumors about George. While playing with the dog, Harry notices George step outside. Harry runs away fast, but he is confused when George seems to be calling Harry's name. In this instance of situational irony, Harry is haunted by the unexpected revelation that George knows who Harry is when Harry has no memory of ever meeting George.
Mum Was Eloping with Uncle Nick the Night They Both Died (Situational Irony)
As the novel progresses, Miles pieces together the fragments of memory he has from the night his mother crashed her car and died. While he had believed Dad's story that Uncle Nick coincidentally also died the same night because he went to check the moorings on the boat during a swell, Miles finally recalls how Uncle Nick had been in the car with him, Mum, and Harry. He remembers how Nick and Mum had touched each other flirtatiously. With the details that the car was stuffed with luggage and Mum had talked to the boys about how much they would enjoy Hobart, Parrett points the reader to the conclusion that Mum and Uncle Nick had an affair, and were leaving town with Miles and Harry to start a new life. Moreover, Miles's Dad ran Mum's vehicle off the road and into the tree, then murdered Uncle Nick, who had survived the crash that killed Mum. In this multi-layered instance of situational irony, Miles realizes he had accepted false narratives concerning Mum and Nick's deaths while he meanwhile held in his memory the truth of his father's guilt.
Uncle Nick is Harry's Biological Father (Situational Irony)
In addition to the dramatic revelation that Dad is responsible for Mum's and Uncle Nick's deaths, Parrett concludes the novel with a further instance of situational irony by revealing through an accumulation of evidence that Uncle Nick was Harry's biological father. Miles remembers how Nick lovingly stroked Harry's cheek when he got in the car the night Nick was eloping with Mum. Dad also lets his resentment for Harry be known by repeatedly shouting about how he never wanted Harry, and he takes his anger out on Harry with greater violence than he does Miles, his actual son.
