The Irony of the Narrator's Wish
The narrator wants more than anything to see Janet leave because he feels that her inferior performance is diminishing his own ability to perform. He spends much of his free time filling out negative reports on her job performance. When he does get his wish and she is replaced, however, the narrator is dismayed to see that this new woman will betray him. She is obviously more committed to this job than even he is willing to justify. His wish becomes his own undoing.
The Irony of the Narrator's Betrayal
Having abandoned outside commitments, the narrator's soul emotional connection is to Janet. She treats him with love and affection, counting him as a friend. While he would never say the same about her, he comes to count on her love. This makes his betrayal of her all the more significant because, ironically, he betrays himself more than her. His ability to perform his job relied upon the brief connections he shared with her in which he was able to tend to his emotional needs. Without her the narrator is lost and his job performance deteriorates as his emotions become overwhelming and unavoidable.
The Irony of Hunting
The actors in the display are given daily provisions of a dead goat to simulate the conditions of prehistoric life, but the goat carcasses are merely dumped in the cage. The actors do not hunt or provide for themselves in any way. In fact they are totally dependent upon their boss to give them these provisions. When the goats stop appearing one day, the actors break character because they are unable to fend for themselves under these artificial conditions. Ironically their primitive lifestyle is dependent upon the very outside forces which both are eager to renounce in their rejection of the material world.
The Irony of the Role
Saunders portrays his protagonists as cavemen. They are both escaping from the pressures of the world by devoting themselves to this isolating job. Ironically they lean into animal instincts in order to be able to perform their job. This salvation and sustenance which work represents, in a sense, is responsible for the actors' dehumanization and consequently a hazard to their survival in the long run.
The Irony of Artificial Boundaries
Because the narrator and Janet are roleplaying, they are forced to conform to artificial boundaries of decorum. While inside the cage, they must act, even if no patrons are present. Outside the cage, they can drop the role, but the narrator often doesn't. On the other hand, Janet will sometimes break character within the cage. Nothing happens to either of them in either case, even though they are violating the boundaries of fiction and reality. The ironically further blurs these boundaries for the narrator who eventually struggles to distinguish real life from his all-consuming work. He's losing his sanity and identity to the role.
