Irony of morality
Captain Wilkins accuses German people as having a "little moral compass". However, this is ironic as the British treatment of German civilians after World War II is shown to be appalling. The German civilians struggle with poverty, mistreatment and relocation at the hands of the British. As such, the idea that he is calling the German people immoral is ironic.
Irony of living arrangements
In this text, a British family live with a German family in the wake of World War II. This is contrary to what we might expect, due to the animosity between the two nationalities following World War II. There is a sense of irony about a British and German family living together under the same roof, among all the divisions and hostility.
Irony of relationships
At the beginning of the text, Rachael despises Stefan because he is German. Rachael lost her son during World War II and resents German people for this reason. She is strongly against having Stefan in the house, but later in the text she has an affair with him. This seems ironic, as she was so critical of him for being German in the beginning.
