The irony of Mark’s Mother’s Reaction towards Tapka (“Tapka”)
Mark elucidates, “My mother—despite having grown up with goats and chickens in her yard—didn’t like animals and found it impossible to feign interest in Rita’s dog.” Mark’s mother’s aversion towards Tapka is ironic considering that earlier in her life she had dealt with animals. Her reaction would not have been ironic if she had not had the chance to tend to “ goats and chicken”. Ordinarily, it would have been Mark who should have been petrified by Tapka owing to the fact that he had never intermingled with animals before.
The Irony of Misha toasting to “Tapka” (“Tapka”)
Misha pays tribute to Tapka when he declares: “This last month, for the first time in years, I have enjoyed my wife’s undivided attention. But I believe no man, not even one as perfect as me, can survive so much attention from his wife. So I say, with all my heart, thank God our Tapka is back home with us. Another day and I fear I may have requested a divorce.” Misha’s toast is ironic for the reason that the dog turns away his wife’s responsiveness from him. Normally, he would have been unenthusiastic by the dog’s return because the return meant that his wife would devote more attention to it .Nonetheless, Misha’s ironic toast accentuates the indispensability of Topka.
The Irony of the apple cake (“Roman Berman, Massage Therapist”)
The narrator’s mother regards the apple cake as representation of the Jewish tradition. She acquires costly ingredients to prepare the cake for the Kornblum’s. Rhonda (Kornblum’s wife) accepts the cake and stores it in the kitchen. However, she (Rhonda) later returns the cake as “She didn’t want it to go to waste. Even though they sometimes took the kids to McDonald’s, they kept kosher at home. So although it smelled wonderful, unfortunately they couldn’t keep it.” Rhonda’s defense for returning the cake is ironic. The smell would have a persuasive reason for her to keep the cake and devour it with her family. Also, the excuse about having kosher at home does not hold water for the reason that both kosher and the apple cake are Jewish. Rejecting the cake is the same with the argument that the cake is not Jewish.
