The Irony of “Equality Promise”
Smarsh writes, “You have nothing to do with probabilities or statistics, of course, which are flimsy at best. But those were real, often devastating forces in my life and in the lives of so many children. I’d like to honor you by trying to articulate what no one articulated for me: what it means to be a poor child in a rich country founded on the promise of equality.” The “promise of equality” would ensure that no child is compelled to live in poverty. The ironic promise is not fulfilled; otherwise all children would grow up in affluence and comfort. The irony depicts the omnipresent divergence between promises of equity and the reality.
The Irony of “She’s not gonna Dance with You”
Four Eyes tells Arnie, “She’s (Betty) not gonna dance with you…you’re too damn fat and ugly.” However, Smarsh explains, “Four Eyes himself got up and asked the blond woman to dance .She said no. So Arnie walked over…The woman, Betty, had overheard his friends making fun of him. So when he asked, Betty said yes.” Betty’s ironic move of accepting to dance with Arnie surmises that she does not humiliate people based on their appearances. Betty deliberately turns down Four Eyes’ propels and accepts Arnie to prove that her view of people is not influenced by what people says. She establishes that regardless of Arnie’s appearance, he is worthy to dance with.
The Irony of “Padlocked Apartment”
Smarsh explains, “One night, when Ray left to go out partying, he padlocked the apartment from outside, in case Betty had a mind to leave.” Ray’s ironic move does not prevent Betty from leaving him eventually. Ray fails to recognize that the padlock cannot lock Betty in his life forever. Moreover, he locks them in the apartment while conscious that a fire could break out and he would lose them should they perish in it. Ray’s volatile and selfish nature motivates his insane action of padlocking them.
The Irony of “Women working harder than men”
Smarsh expounds, “She (Jeannie) came from a long line of women whose lives amounted to getting out of a bind, often by working harder than their men. Nothing disgusted Jeannie more than a man sitting on his butt all day expecting to be taken care of.” Men are conventionally and biblically expected to be the foremost providers in their households. However, some women such as Jeannie’s family rise above their femaleness by working harder and being providers. Gender is not the definitive factor in hard work; women can be successful regardless of their gender. Moreover, maleness does not qualify one for success; some men are utterly lazy that they rely on women for their sustenance.
The Irony of Materialism
President Carter asserts, “Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption…But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning.” Material possessions are not utterly effective in fostering belonging because their value is based on pricing. Comparatively, belonging is dependent on contentment which cannot be monetarily quantified. The utility from the material things cannot be absolutely mollified; hence, material things cannot be used to foster unconditional belonging.
