The World/The House
The novel begins with a description of the seemingly empty world with only two inhabitants. The narrator and the main character sees the World and the House that he inhabits as one and the same. This confusing start into a seemingly post-apocalyptic narrative is later explained, and this view of the world comprised into a house by Piranesi is understandable from the perspective of isolation and trauma.
Verbal irony: understanding of the birds
Piranesi, despite being confused about his identity and the truth about his existence in the House, which is later revealed to be the effect of the House making the person amnesic and insane, still keeps his analytic mind and nature. This is shown with his witty and ironic view of the birds, which provide him the only company for most of his time in the House:
“Birds are not difficult to understand. Their behavior tells me what they are thinking. Generally it runs along the lines of: Is this food? Is this? What about this? This might be food. I am almost certain that this is. Or occasionally: It is raining. I don’t like it.”
The House gives more to the Other
Piranesi, in all his confuses and amnesic innocence, doesn’t fail to notice that the Other has access to all the various things that he doesn’t. He gifts him shoes, food and other supplies because the House doesn’t give those to Piranesi.
“That being said, it occurs to me to wonder why it is that the House gives a greater variety of objects to the Other than to me, providing him with sleeping bags, shoes, plastic bowls, cheese sandwiches, notebooks, slices of Christmas cake etc., etc., whereas me it mostly gives fish.”
Strange that all those things are accessible to the Other in a world where the only two surviving people are Piranesi and himself. At this point it becomes clear that something else is at hand, and that the main character is, in best case scenario, severely manipulated. After the truth about the House and Piranesi is revealed at the end, it becomes clear just how far this manipulation goes.
The irony of Piranesi
The name Piranesi is revealed to have been given to the main character by the Other. The name is an allusion to the Italian artist, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and his work with labyrinths. The House could be described as a form of labyrinth in itself, and Piranesi the only person knowing the ways of it. Furthermore, the irony of the name Piranesi lies in the way it was given to the narrator, as a cruel mockery of his situation.
