Injustice and irony
When Piedmont steps forward to defend Griggs's politics, he makes a good point about reeducating the masses. Instead of viewing racial injustice as a problem that should make sense to everyone, Piedmont urges the community to see the way that false information has been spread through the white community so that the white community truly doesn't understand the reality of injustice in the Black community. He says that they are unaware (dramatic irony) and that they need to be taught, but not through violence, because violence presupposes they already understand.
Belgrade and irony
Belgrade is shown as an ironic problem to the community right off the bat when Griggs begins the novel by addressing the community and explaining the dangers of the kinds of leadership that Belgrade exhibits to a T. Ironically, Belgrade is the most effective leader in the bunch, because he is most willing to exploit the people, and he does this in a way that makes him feel good about himself, but destroys the movement completely.
The foolishness of violence
The people are ready to riot and overthrow a government or something. Ironically, Piedmont struggles to remind them that they would be stupid to think that they could possibly overthrow the US government, because the US has a military the might of which has rarely been seen on the face of the earth. Yet, they want to be violent, because they feel entitled to justice. Violence is an instinct that poses a threat to their own objectives. In a word, it is a false bait.
Hatred and failure
The novel clearly outlines a thematic issue with the Black desire for justice (which Griggs explains). Because the white leaders in the US government have historically disenfranchised Black people, and since the majority of the culture has been blind to that injustice, there is deep-seated hatred against white leaders—but ironically that hatred makes the masses behave in counter-productive ways. Their primary source of passion (injustice) can easily poison the waters, leading to their own defeat.
The irony of failure
Broadly speaking, the novel's major irony is that the government fails. One might suppose that a well-educated Black man writing a novel about a government of well-educated Black men might make the novel about success, but rather, the novel ends with horror and disaster and shame. The irony invites the reader to examine the plot again. How far back were the seeds of destruction planted? Perhaps the actual argument of the book is that the novel itself outlines obedience to desires that are misguided.
