The irony of romance.
Romance is depicted in an ironic way in this book because Jacques and Pitsemine are serious adventurers. They aren't sitting around in their community desperately trying to find love. Instead, they are out there in the world, willingly pursuing something they don't know if they can even find, or what it will look like to find it—but they are adventuring, and that's the important part. Since each of them have accepted their call to adventure, they are allowed to partner up with each other as companions. Ironically, by not looking for romance, they found it in the most compelling way.
The ironic and painful discover of Theo.
Theo is literally the word God in Greek, so it would be academically acceptable to say that at least in part, the journey of Jacques and Pitsemine, although vague at the beginning, eventually crystallizes into a full-blown religious journey toward fate itself. They are dedicated to discovery, learning, and growth, and eventually, that makes them journey toward Jacques brother Theo, a difficult relationship with much pain and regret in it. When they discover Theo, they don't find a big glorious epiphanic vision. They find a standard for human conduct: To sacrifice for one's family and loved ones while they are still alive.
The irony of love and sacrifice.
Therefore, there is another irony implicit in the story, that love was always an option between Theo and Jacques, but that it did not manifest itself in their brotherhood. Why is that? Well, the answer lies in the ironic nature of love. Like the relationship between Jacques and Pitsemine which began ironically, the love between the brothers is ironic, because it is always there, but in order for it to have helped Theo or Jacques, they would have had to make serious sacrifices for that relationship. Ironically, this novel is Jacques attempt to do that, and ironically, that sacrifice makes him permanently aware of just how much he truly does love his brother. He has loved him the whole time.
The irony of judgment and standards.
When Jacques encounters his failure, he must come to terms with his actions. He is responsible, as he expected, but the standard of his judgment is clearly only painful because of one thing: Jacques loves his brother. He cared about him through their whole lives, and although he was not always loyal or sacrificial, in light of Theo's tragic fate, Jacques is left to mourn. The irony is that his journey was motivated by making things right, but instead he learned how wrong they had been, and although the standard was blurry in the past, it is crystal clear in light of Theo's fate: Jacques should love Pitsemine with sacrifice and loyalty if he wants to avoid the remorse he felt for Theo.
The irony of death.
Death is an ironic hero in this story, because although it seems peripheral at best, death is secretly the only discover in the novel. By seeing that Theo had permanently lost his memory, and that there was truly nothing that could be done to make Theo understand Jacques and his apologies, then Jacques realizes the ultimate fate of all people, because he is made to watch someone he loves slip toward death. Not only is Theo paralyzed and vegetative, he will likely stay that way until death. In other words, Jacques will basically always have death on his mind because he loves his brother. Ironically, that is a good thing, though, because that death-awareness is like a ballast for Jacques' relationships to others and for his art.
