The Irony of Elster's Retirement
Shortly after his retirement, Elster is called back in by the war department. He accepts a final mission because, as they say, he is the only one qualified for the task. While initially this assignment bodes ill for Elster's lazy retirement, the nature of the assignment actually manifests in a complimentary way to Elster's preferred method of relaxation -- living alone in the desert. He is able to enjoy the benefits of work while still living out his dream retirement.
The Irony of Jim's Voyeurism
Jim becomes demonstrably happier when Jessie arrives. He enjoys her company, but mostly he just likes looking at her because she's a beautiful woman. When his behavior becomes increasingly voyeuristic and invasive, he scares Jessie off. She goes back to New York. Ironically, all Jim wanted was to watch her from a distance, but this behavior in and of itself cost him the privilege of seeing her.
The Irony of a Story about the Creative Process
In the most dramatic instance of meta-irony to be found in DeLillo's writing, he writes Point Omega about the relationship between the creator and the creative process, through the perspectives of Elster and Jim Finley. The irony here is that DeLillo is actively participating in the same relationship in the act of writing this novel. He is simultaneously creating and commenting upon the creative process.
The Irony of Elster's Desire for Solitude
Always an outdoorsman, Elster's one wish for his retirement is to spend it alone in the wilderness. He is finished with people and the stress and stupidity they add to his life. When he moves to the desert, he seemingly has achieved this final step, but, alas, there's Jim intruding upon his private life. Jim keeps his distance, but he is actively filming Elster and analyzing his behavior. Although this is a direct violation of Elster's wishes, he doesn't seem to mind Jim being there. Perhaps total solitude was not his most pure desire, but more a realization of his feelings of isolation in relation to society at large.
The Irony of Inherent Meaning
Elster's secret assignment is to provide appropriate briefing materials for the military. They want to effectively and succinctly prepare their soldiers for war and turn to Elster to communicate the summation of his wartime experiences this way. Elster accepts this challenge and throws himself into the writing of a haiku which supposedly encapsulates every relevant facet of war, but he becomes bogged down in the memories themselves. Pairing this haiku with the structure of the book itself, which mimics a haiku, and readers are teased into believing that so much meaning could be packed into an immensely limiting structure. The irony is that this challenge is a red herring. DeLillo devotes the novel to the breakdown of the concept of inherent meaning, completely side-stepping the difficulty of communicating said meaning through limited means.
