The Irony of Pelagia Raising a Daughter Alone After Losing Her Mother
Pelagia grew up motherless for the majority of her childhood. Her mom died when she was very young. After her father's capture by the Germans, she's living alone when someone leaves a baby on her doorstep. It's ironic that Pelagia is chosen to be a single mother, considering her almost total inexperience with motherhood. Unlike so many little girls who learn from their moms, she's on her own. She raises the girl based entirely on instinct, of which she must possess a lot because Antonia grows into a happy, healthy adult.
The Irony of Dr. Iannis' Death
Dr. Iannis is the one who teaches Pelagia to live peaceably and hopefully. His enthusiasm survives nearly to the end of the war, when he's taken to a prison camp in Germany. Although he does not expound upon his time there, he is profoundly changed by the experience. After the camp, he loses his optimism in favor of cynicism. Life loses all meaning for him, and he becomes somewhat of a burden to Pelagia, even though she's glad to have him back. When he dies accidentally during the earthquake, he had already outlived the normal events which should kill a person: depression, war, and imprisonment.
The Irony of Mandras' Anger
Mandras has a hard time accepting Pelagia breaking up with him. He runs off and joins the Resistance only to return a handful of years later to confront Pelagia. He's spent his time with the Communists, learning to read and being indoctrinated. When he could finally read, he poured over all the letters she wrote to him when they were young and became furious. He realizes she hadn't loved him all along. When he confronts her and tries to rape her, he thinks that he's upset over her unfaithfulness. Actually he never loved her either and feels guilty for having taken advantage of her all those years ago. The anger which he directs at her is really self-hatred. In the end, he kills himself over it.
The Irony of Corelli and Pelagia's Relationship
When Pelagia hears that Italian soldiers are being stationed in her town, she determines to hate them. Corelli is sent to live in her home, and she reaffirms her promise. At first she keeps her distance, but his personality is infectious. She soon finds herself falling in love with him, the one man whom she had promised not to love. Compare this to her indiscriminate youth when she fell for the first eligible young man she met.
The Irony of Guercio's Death
After witnessing all of his dear friends, lovers, and all the men in his unit die in battle, Guercio is fortunate to survive the war. Even when he deliberately endangers himself to save other men he lives, so it's odd that he's the one to die instead of Corelli. He jumps in front of the execution squad in order to defend Corelli and dies. After being preserved all those times before, he gets the worse end of the incident. Corelli is injured, but he lives unlike Guercio. It's ironic that Guercio survives the entire war only to essentially commit suicide sacrificially at the end.
