Torture (Situational Irony)
In the autobiographical story that Katurian tells, "The Writer and the Writer's Brother," there is some situational irony in that the character of the writer ends up learning that his parents are torturing his brother in the next room. While they initially told him that they were only pretending to torture a boy in the next room as an artistic experiment, he learns later that they have indeed been torturing his brother. This is an example of situational irony.
Michal Killed the Children (Situational Irony)
In the beginning of the play, Katurian (and the audience by extension) is operating under the assumption that he and Michal have been framed for the murders of the children. The conflict, it would appear, is that the two brothers must figure out how to escape from wrongful imprisonment. When they are placed in the same cell, however, Michal reveals to Katurian that he is actually guilty of the murders, which completely changes everything. This is an ironic moment, in which Katurian must come to terms with the fact that everything he thought about their situation was actually false.
Katurian's Confession (Dramatic Irony)
After smothering his brother, Michal, with a pillow, Katurian confesses to the murder of Michal, his parents, and the children that Michal killed. In this moment, the audience knows that Katurian did not actually murder the children, nor did he even know about Michal's acts, but he lies anyway, in a last ditch effort to have his stories preserved.
Ariel preserves Katurian's stories (Situational Irony)
The final moment of the play is a moment of situational irony. After Tupolski shoots Katurian in the head, executing him, he orders Ariel to burn Katurian's stories, with a fire already prepared. After Tupolski leaves the room, however, Ariel inexplicably saves the stories and puts them into Katurian's file. While he has maintained a vindictive and violent attitude towards Katurian throughout the play, he suddenly exhibits some mercy by honoring Katurian's dying wish to have his stories outlive him.
