Ma’s Absence (Situational Irony)
Kya’s mother advises her daughters that women should stick together “even in the mud.” This advice becomes ironic when she abandons Kya, leaving her with her father and Jodie.
Kya’s Social Isolation (Situational Irony)
Kya's social isolation is a vicious cycle. Abandoned by her family, she develops animal-like instincts necessary for her survival. However, these behaviors mark her as "different," giving her peers more reason to reject her. The community of Barkley Cove perceives her as strange, hermit-like, and feral; even Tate concludes that she is too wild to integrate into the academic world. As Tom Milton points out in his closing statement, the town didn't "exclude Miss Clark because she was different," but rather, "she was different because" the town excluded her.
"The Marsh Girl" (Situational Irony)
From an early age, Kya learns that people are prejudiced against her because she is a marsh dweller. Refusing to acknowledge that she even has a name, the locals of Barkley Cove call her "the Marsh Girl." After the court acquits Kya, the attitudes of the people of Barkley Cove change almost overnight; at the end of Kya's life, she is respected within the community. Tate has the epithet "Marsh Girl" inscribed on her gravestone, as what was once an insult became an honorific title.
The "Welcome Bat" (Verbal Irony)
By the porch door, Pa keeps the paddle he uses to beat his children. Jodie ironically refers to this paddle as the "welcome bat."
