Log Reacts to Carving Tools (Situational Irony)
In the first chapter of The Adventures of Pinocchio, Master Cherry picks up a log believing it will make an excellent table leg. However, a voice cries out in pain when Cherry takes his axe to the wood. When Cherry runs his plane over it, the log laughs and says he is being tickled. In this instance of situational irony, Cherry's and the reader's expectations are undermined when a benign piece of timber turns out to possess magical qualities. No usual piece of timber, the log that will become Pinocchio, who can feel pleasure and pain, and speak.
"My Legs" (Verbal Irony)
After discovering the shock of his life in his workshop, Master Cherry receives a visit from his neighbor, the beggar Geppetto. Cherry asks, "What has brought you to me, neighbor Geppetto?" Geppetto replies, “My legs. But to tell the truth, Master Antonio, I came to ask a favor of you." In this humorous instance of verbal irony, Geppetto answers Cherry's question literally, misunderstanding the phrase "what brought you to me." Believing that Cherry is asking what means of conveyance brought Geppetto to the workshop, Geppetto explains it was his legs; then he gets around to the favor, which is what Cherry was asking about in the first place.
Bravo, Pudding! (Dramatic Irony)
When Geppetto tells Cherry that he has come to ask for a piece of wood out of which he can carve a puppet, the sentient log that will become Pinocchio shouts, "Bravo, Pudding!" in approval of the idea. However, in an instance of dramatic irony, Geppetto is unaware where the voice has come from. Hearing his nickname enrages him, and he assumes Cherry must have called out. In the confusion, the men begin a physical fight.
Geppetto In the Dogfish (Situational Irony)
Having seen Geppetto get swept away in an ocean storm, Pinocchio assumes his papa has drowned. However, Pinocchio finds Geppetto living in the belly of the giant dogfish that swallowed them both. In this instance of situational irony, Pinocchio and the reader's expectations are undermined when Collodi reveals that Geppetto has stayed alive by eating the rations stored on a merchant ship the dogfish also swallowed. Reunited at last, the pair escape the whale and begin to turn their fortunes around.
