The Groom
There is some irony in the fact that the children consider the groom the least important role in the game Bride-Bride, a "stiff and boring" (6) role. A wedding cannot happen without a groom, but the children amusingly care very little for it.
Offenders
Amma has the tone of bitter irony in her voice when she asks, "But where does one turn when the police and the government are the offenders?" (135). One would think that the police, who are supposed to enforce the law, and the government, which is supposed to form and model the following of the law, would be fair, just, and offer succor to its citizens, but Amma discovers this is not the case when Daryl's suspicious murder goes uninvestigated.
"Pleasant Meadows"
After the saga with Daryl is winding down and Arjie's father's return is imminent—both things that have been grievously hard for Arjie and his mother—he picks up Little Women and randomly opens to the chapter "Pleasant Meadows." It is a lovely chapter in which the father comes home and the family gathers at his feet, "their troubles at an end" (149). The irony is that this is the exact opposite of Arjie's situation, for his father's return does not bring peace or resolution.
The Conflict
Appa says that "Once the government destroys these damn Tigers, everything will go back to normal" (185). The irony here is dramatic irony, for the reader knows that this will not be the case—the civil war will officially begin in 1983 and it will last all the way until 2009. The Tigers will thus not be destroyed for a very, very long time, but Appa and the other characters do not know this.
