Irony and form
The form of this book is subject to irony because it is unusual and somewhat random. Because the reader does not know where one kind of writing will end and another begin, they are subjected to the chaos of the story. The form subjects them to its drama by restricting their access to assumption, and therefore the formal irony is both situational and dramatic. It is situationally ironic in the broken expectation the reader encounters just flipping the pages, and dramatic in that the reader does not know what to expect.
The nameless protagonist
In this story, the protagonist is nameless, which is technically ironic because that means the character could be anyone. That makes the namelessness symbolic, at least potentially, because instead of representing a person, the character represents a pattern in life's rich narrative tapestry. The character is simultaneously no one at all, and anyone who has ever felt self-hatred as an obstacle to artistic success. The synchronicity of identity and artist identity is also worth commenting. This is an artist who doesn't know her own identity as an artist yet.
The struggling artist
There is a synchronicity in this story between the unnamed artist and certain tangential issues that are seemingly inseparable from that dilemma. The struggling artist is unable to afford quiet, private housing, and so she lives in a flat with thin walls, and she listens to the sounds that traumatized her into unhealthy patterns of self-esteem and internal dialogue—the sounds of a screaming couple. The connection between her outside world and inside world is an irony that helps the reader to correctly interpret the plot.
Pregnancy and irony
The thought of pregnancy is complicated by levels of irony that the protagonist does not necessarily consider, so the reader is actually empathizing with her better than her own self. She secretly hates her fate because she felt no other option for a sustainable future than to abort the baby of her absent boyfriend. This painful irony is a twist of fate because she also feels infinitely guilty, like a failure (which doesn't help her to be a confident artist, nota bene), and therefore the abortion represents a fear that she has already sacrificed her potential. Secretly, she feels that God hates her or something.
The book within a book irony
The reader reads about a book within the book, which is metanarrative, but not necessarily ironic. However, when the reader gets through most of the book, they encounter "Branford the Benevolent Bacterium." That is the protagonists favorite book. This gives reader an ironic glimpse into the childhood of the artist. Because of the metanarrative, it also has this ironic effect: Reading the book within the book makes the reader feel like they really are the unnamed protagonist.
