British People (Situational and Verbal Irony)
Adah finds it ironic that a woman such as Trudy is of a society that putatively values "law and order" when she so flagrantly breaks the laws of caregiving: "Now, she was not even given the joy of knocking senseless this fat, loose-fleshed woman with dyed hair and pussy-cat eyes. She belonged to the nation of people who had introduced 'law and order'" (66). Trudy is careless, negligent, and essentially bilks Adah of her money and does not take care of her kids. The second-class citizens are the ones the British would see as lawless, but it's actually Trudy.
Francis (Verbal Irony)
Adah is unimpressed with many aspects of Francis's personality, and has a keen way of pinpointing his flaws. Here, she observes: "He was always disappointed in human nature when it refused to bend to his wishes" (68). Her tone here is ironic and sarcastic, as of course human nature is not going to care what Francis thinks or does, so there is no point getting disappointed.
Discrimination (Situational Irony)
In the quote "Adah could not help wondering whether the real discrimination, if one could call it that, that she experienced was not more the work of her fellow countrymen than of the whites" (70), Emecheta posits that Blacks in England are more susceptible to discriminating against their countrymen than the whites are, which would seem counterintuitive since the former are all second-class citizens.
Mr. Noble (Situational Irony)
The character of Mr. Noble is a fascinating one, and his name is of particular interest to Adah: "He was given that name when he came to England, when he became a second-rate person, when he became second-class" (81). He gets that name because he acts in a infantilized, exoticized way, pandering to stereotype and engaging in debasing behavior to amuse the whites. They call him "Mr. Noble" when he is anything but.
