The plane crash
The irony of the plane crash is certainly situational since plane crashes are actually quite rare in comparison to say, car crashes. In addition to that irony, there is the dramatic irony of the plane's downfall: what happened? Why would the pilots crash the plane? The crash drama is increased by the absolute head trauma the survivors endure which leaves them without a memory of the events leading up to the crash. When we figure out that it was a pilot who crashed the plane, the irony is deepened.
The savior scorned
Just like Isaiah's savior songs, we see a portrait of the savior as a man who endures deep pain and agony to sacrifice himself for the better of another person. In this case, we see Scott swimming for miles and miles to find land with a seriously injured boy in his carriage, using a broken shoulder to do so. That is a messianic figure in action, but instead of honor, we see the ironic completion of the savior motif; he is martyred by the public and accused of motivations which are exactly opposite from his heroic actions.
The media evil
Any time a person is willing to betray the public by creating lies that benefit the rich and powerful, for money, that serves as a fairly apt description of human evil. Bill Cunningham worships mammon and approval, and therefore he is willing to use his cunning abilities to intentionally obfuscate the truth. He does this for money, because he is almost out of a job. That is a symbol for mass media, but more importantly, it is a symbol that connects mass media to the Biblical motifs of absolute human evil—the beast and the harlot and the fall of Babylon. Bill Cunningham is the "crafty serpent" of the book.
The truth of the wealthy
With such strong thematic accents on wealth, it is important to critique the portrait of the upper class symbolized in the developing story. As the truth emerges, we see that a portrait of incestuous business relationships and a complicated web of broken promises and betrayals. The highest of these betrayals comes when a co-pilot tries to lure Maggie Bateman into having sex on the plane; when he is rejected, he betrays all the people on the plane and his own human nature. The crisis is certainly ironic and symbolic.
Black box truth
The black box is a reckoning of truth, but in order to find it, an incredibly lengthy and complicated search must be conducted. The primary irony here is found by contrasting Bill Cunningham's intentional misinformation with the truth of the black box. Which is easier: to fool people with a clever lie, or to discern legitimate truth? The book points to truth as an ironic grail to be quested for, and once attained, this grail promises redemption and glory for Scott, and humiliation for anyone who dared to believe that somehow Scott architected this plane crash.
