The Irony of Beryl's First Marriage
In order to escape her alcoholic dad's abuse and neglect, Beryl marries a neighbor who is some thirty years her senior. She marries him hoping that he will provide for her and largely leave her alone; it's a loveless marriage. Tragically for Beryl, this first husband turns out to be a drunk also. He abuses her and neglects her more than her father ever had, for two years until she runs away from him.
The Irony of Rejection
Beryl has some serious abandonment issues after her long history of important people leaving. Most importantly, her mom left the family when Beryl was very young. She grew up motherless and constantly afraid that other people upon whom she was depending would also leave her. This fear is only confirmed when Hatton rejects her after their one night stand. For all her concern and loneliness, Beryl doesn't learn from her mom's mistakes. She does her fair share of rejecting people who love her, namely her abortions and the baby of her second husband whom she gives up to her mother-in-law.
The Irony of Stockholm Syndrome
Beryl is drugged by Hatton on their date and then raped by him that night, according to his modus operandi. Unable to process the pain of that experience, Beryl locks it up somewhere deep. She doesn't give herself the care and time she needs in order to heal from the experience. Instead, she becomes completely obsessed with Hatton, which continues throughout her life. She has a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome, loving the man who brutally used her.
The Irony of Independence
Along with her compatriots, Beryl learns that national independence doesn't undo decades of colonial enslavement. Her intimate childhood relationships with her native Kenyan neighbors leads her to be sympathetic to the Kenyan independence movement later in life. She fights tirelessly for the cause, but the reward is disappointing. Although Kenya becomes an independent country, its citizens continue to struggle with a dependence mindset, unable to forget their former subjugated existence. As Beryl notes, freedom and independence may not be the same thing after all. What they really wanted all along was freedom, but independence was a huge step in that direction.
The Irony of Beryl's Father Staying
After her mother leaves, Beryl is left alone with her dad. It's odd that he's the one to stay with the child because he doesn't do anything to help her. He may as well not have stayed for all he does. Instead of providing for his daughter and teaching her, he abuses her and relies upon her to make income for the family.
