The irony of spermatozoa
The narrator's opening statement in the chapter is satirical. The reader gets shocked that ladies can be paid with a tribute of spermatozoa as an appreciation by men. The narrator takes a girl out to the movies and appreciates her later in the night with an award of spermatozoa, Tristeza. The reader finds it sarcastic when the narrator says, “The last night I spent in London, I took some girl or other to the movies and, through her mediation, I paid you a little tribute of spermatozoa, Tristessa.”
The metaphor of slippers
Before moving to New York for the first time, the narrator had fantastic imaginations about the city. He thought that New York is the cleanest city and most developed technology-wise compared to the modern cities in Europe. However, the narrator found it ironic when he arrived in New York because the reality contradicted his expectations. The narrator says, “But in New York, I found, instead of hard edges and clean colors, a lurid, Gothic darkness that closed over my head entirely and became my world.”
The irony of the victim
Leila is a strong woman, but she accepts her present circumstances to put her down. The narrator is using her the way he wants. It is satirical that the narrator beats Leila because she is fond of fouling the bed. Whenever the narrator tries to untie her, she refuses, and sometimes she bites his hand. Consequently, the narrator viewed Leila as a victim of violence. The narrator says, “She seemed to be a born victim and, if she submitted to the beatings and the degradations with a curious, ironic laugh that no longer tinkled – for I’d beaten the wind-bells out of her, I’d done that much – then isn’t irony the victim’s only weapon?”
The Irony of Living
The narrator got lost in the middle of the desert. He had no map or campus to know where to end his journey. At this point, the narrator lost his mind, and he forgot himself. The air-dried out of his lungs. The reader finds it sardonic that someone could survive with dry lungs. The narrator says, “That was yesterday or the day before. The day before, or else yesterday, the wind blew my map away. The air dries out my lungs. I gasp.”
The irony of the car
The protagonist describes himself as a smoker, and when he got stuck in the middle of the desert, he was remaining with twelve cigarettes. The reader assumes that smokers do not realize the stale and foul smell of the smoke. Ironically, the narrator complained of bad air in the car, and yet he was the one smoking. The narrator says, “I stepped out of the stale interior of the car into the sharp, bright sunshine, I staggered at the blow of the fresh air.” The reader wonders why the narrator made the car stuffy in the first place instead of opening the windows for fresh air.
