The ironic traffic jam
What is it that everyone is feeling in a traffic jam. "Ugh," says literally everyone, "are we ever going to move?" Since that feeling of desperate impatience is common to anyone who has ever been caught in serious urban traffic, the scene is ironic, because the answer to that emotional dilemma is actually "No, these cars are permanently stuck." The scene is very funny.
The irony of Buzzworm
The irony of Buzzworm is his name. He might as well be named, "I am a symbol." He is a symbol for the function he provides, to give people vital information, like Hermes the Greek god, or like the "messengers" of Christian folklore. He is a sign for the irony of Emi and Gabriel's success—they depend on the help of unthanked others in order to succeed in their jobs.
The irony of Rafaela's tree
Rafaela is separated from her husband following some seasons of severe dysfunction and disagreement. Luckily, Gabriel has been working in the United States, so Rafaela makes an agreement with him that she will take care of the property. Because of the Mexican gangs, she feels unsafe, and then randomly a sacred orange fruits from her favorite tree and an angel takes it to the Tropic of Cancer. Why the ironic turn of events? This time that irony points to the painful, mythic nature of Rafaela's frustration.
The irony of the Sansei
Why should a random master arise to govern in the fallout of apocalypse? The novelist suggests that if suddenly, everyone had to abandon their vehicles, that a man would need to masterfully solve that problem by directing traffic. She picks the name Murakami, a name that obviously means something in the world of literature that the novelist belongs too. This scene could be seen as an homage to Haruki Murakami.
The irony of homelessness
Since the traffic jam is ultimate, people have to exit their vehicles and find their way home, without their car, miles and miles from home. That is ironic, because that leaves their vehicles for the people who wander that way all the time, the homeless population. In this novel, the abandonment on one freeway worth of cars provides semi-permanent shelter to an entire population of people who exist in real need.
