The Iron of the author's grandmother
Most grandparents are stereotypically cheerful and gentle, and they love telling their grandchildren fairytales about the past and other exciting stories about life. However, it is satirical that the author's grandmother is not a smiling or crying type of woman. She is strict and gives short orders that must be adhered to the point. The author says, “She was not a smiling type. When she tried, she succeeded in leering muddily. But then, she was not the crying type either: she gave her orders sharp and clear. I don't remember ever being called gentle by her."
The Irony of the Chief
Ironically, the chief is working to impress the white man while subjecting the black man to poverty. For instance, the chief is collaborating with the whites to take the land of the Blacks. This irony is significant because it depicts how the white used a few black individuals like chiefs to satisfy their selfish gains. The narrator says, "The old men at the fire-place complained endlessly that most of their lands had been taken away by the white man.”
The irony of a hard-hearted mother-in-law
For the first time, the narrator saw his grandmother cry when his mother came from the city to take him and his two siblings. The narrator was used to only seeing his grandmother cry at church but not anywhere else. Otherwise, the grandmother was a strict and strong woman. The narrator found it ironic that she cried when their mother had come to take them to the city. The narrator says, "First, my grandmother cried. I had only seen her cry at revival services in the Methodist church house. I knew my mother could not just come in the middle of the year like that to move a hard-hearted mother-in-law to tears with a kind domestic…."
The Irony of Marabastad
Second Avenue, especially Marabastad, is neglected by the authorities because the people who live here are considered poor and inferior. The irony is that there is little water in Marabastad despite being close to the sea where there is plenty of water. The quotes one person waiting on queue to fetch water, saying, "Tck, Tck, so much water in the seas, but none in Marabastad.” The use of this irony is vital because it shows how people in low-class neighborhoods struggled to survive. The living conditions in Marabastad are bad, and the people are struggling to survive.
The Irony of the Black People
The reader does not expect black people to hate themselves and worship the white man, especially during the colonization period. The author writes this book during the apartheid era, and he narrates about his life while living in Marabsatad. As the narrator waits to fetch water, black women and men have a conversation to pass the time as they wait for their turn to get water. The entire discussion is filled with self-hatred. For instance, Ma-Janeware is calling her fellows that they are as black as charcoal as herself. The narrator also recalls how one of the people at the tap said that her grandmother used to say that she was as black as Satan's pit. The author writes, "Sies,’ my grandmother always said, ‘and to think she is as black as Stan’s pit! Ma-Lebona of the house across the street agreed.”
