The irony of anaesthesia (“Witness”)
Selzer writes, “Under anesthesia, he (the sick boy ) looks completely normal. So! It is only wakefulness that diminishes him. '' The exclamation mark after so signifies the irony of anaesthesia. Typically, anaesthesia would have weakened the boy , but in this instance, it does the contrary of making him energetic. The irony of anaesthesia infers that bad health can make wakefulness insufferable.
The irony of the doctor’s cat ( “Witness”)
The doctor’s portrayal of the cat offers the picture of a cat that exemplifies an elevated humanity that supersedes that of human beings. The doctor says, “No human has ever been so kind, so voluptuous, as my cat.” It is ironic that the cat represents aspects that should be innate in all human beings.
The irony of the Resolution in “Whither Thou Goest”
When Hannah is done listening to the heart, Pope Henry asks: “Will you want to come again, Hannah?” Hanna tells him “ No…There will be no need”. Hannah’s rejoinder is ironic in view of that she has sent Pope Henry copious letters pleading him to allow her to come listen to the heart. Arguably, she would have construed Pope Henry’s question as an incitement to come listen to the heart as repeatedly as she wants in view of that she somewhat owns it. The utility that Hannah derives from hearing the heart rises above the impediments that she has been through for three years. One would contemplate that she would have need of three years of hearing heart for her to get over it but her response denotes saturated contentment.
