The Irony of King's Death
Although no one is surprised that King ends up being killed, his death is ironic because his mother, the one sympathetic character kills him. True, his death is accidental -- she was aiming for Elmore, -- but she nonetheless kills her son. This scene is ironic because Elmore has a reason to murder King, as do even Mister and Stool Pigeon and Tonya, but Ruby, the only one without motive, holds the smoking gun.
The Irony of Elmore's Anger
Elmore engages in that final conflict with King because he sees King cheating. The irony is that King swindles Elmore in exactly the same way Leroy had done years ago. And Leroy was King's father. Although King never met his father, here he is pulling the same trick on the same man, and dying for it.
The Irony of Tonya's Abortion
When Tonya announces she's pregnant, she's happy about it. King tells her to abort the child because he won't be a father to the baby. By the time she really stops to consider, Tonya ends up agreeing with King. She's heartbroken, but she does get the abortion unprompted because she too believes King would be an awful neglectful father to the baby. The irony is that King doesn't believe Tonya went through with it. He doesn't give her credit for making such a practical decision as to spare the child, even though she personally wanted to raise the baby.
The Irony of Ruby's Engagement
Ruby used to date a man named Leroy, King's father. Now she's dating Elmore, the man who murdered Leroy, but apparently she didn't know when they became engaged. She seems to have a penchant for the con-man.
The Irony of Criminal Life
King doesn't want to be a criminal, but he's locked in the system. He seeks work everywhere, but ironically it's much easier for him to make his money illegally. Nobody wants to hire an ex-con, so he has not real motivation to stop engaging in crime.
