Complementary
Juvenalis writes, "WHENEVER DETECTIVE SERGEANT Perry Dart felt especially weary of the foibles and follies of his Harlem, he knew where to find stimulation; he could always count on his friend, Dr. John Archer. Spiritually the two bachelors were as opposite as the two halves of circles - and as complementary." The two men's capacity to complement one another is ironic since they are absolute opposites. They hold different ideologies which elicit frequent arguments among them. Moreover, their careers are extremely divergent. The friends much to sustain their comradeship and complement each other because they do not let ideological dissimilarities interfere with friendship. They separate their disagreements from the affection for each other, resulting in an unlikely complementary companionship.
“Seems like he was”
Dart asks, “Was your brother left-handed, Mr. Dewey?” Dewey responds, “Seems like he was.” Dewey’s response is ironic considering that Miss Petal confirms that Sonny “was right-handed.” Dewey would have been sure about his brother’s hands; reads as if they were strangers and not brothers; hence, Dewey would not discern the hand he used most. Manifestly, Dewey wants the detective and the doctor to conclude that Sonny stabbed himself. Dewey’s ironic response surmises that he may have murdered his brother.
The Irony of "Maternal Love"
Dr. Archer recounts, “I did have a case once where, I believe, a fairly sane mother would have killed her son if she’d been able. He was a lad about Sonny’s age, with a sarcoma of the jaw. It involved half of his jaw. It involved half of his head-he suffered terrifically. Death was just a mother of time. She repeatedly begged me to give him an overdose of morphine." Here, the mother prefers to have a son death instead of weathering the agony of the sarcoma. Her request for morphine injection is ironic but it does not confirm that the woman hates her son. She prefers hers on dies peacefully instead of existing in perpetual pain. This example alludes to the possibility that Sonny’s mother may have stabbed her to redeem his soul. Maternal love does not imply that a mother cannot instigate the death of her child.
The Irony of the Charm
Dr. Archer recounts, “That packet - I examined it-contained a wad of human hair, if you please, in snake oil.” The child’s father believes that the charm would miraculously cure the child’s fits; however, the child succumbs. If the father was absolutely convicted about the potency of the charm, he would not have taken the child to a doctor. Accordingly, charms cannot cure medical conditions which require conventional medical treatments.
The Irony of a Name (Solomon Bright)
Dr. Archer asserts, “And his name… was Bright - Solomon Bright.” The doctor is referring to his patient’s father. Being named Solomon - which relates to the wise, Biblical Solomon - does not make the father inherently wise. Moreover, the man is not bright because he objects to X ray treatments, which would have rescued his son’s life. The father’s actions and decisions are antithetical to the connotations of his name.
