The irony of self-judgment
We all have moral standards, whether we like them or not, at least in the fact that we all know what shame feels like. However, this protagonist has managed to trap himself in a paradox. On one hand, his self-judgment is valid, because his sexual impulses are outside his own moral code. On the other hand, his moral code is the product of the way he was socialized. The highlight of this irony is that the only person really judging the poor kid is quite literally, himself.
The irony of religion
Religion is typically regarded as a tool for helping people in life, but for this protagonist, religion is holding him back. Instead of developing real, authentic religious beliefs of his own, this young guy has adopted the religious beliefs that other people told him he "should" believe, if he wants to be a good person. In other words, his own moral legalism has turned his beautiful religious heritage into a cage where he feels trapped in a maze of guilt and desire. Roth is a clever guy, so this is very likely by design.
The irony of offensiveness
This novel is genius in its use of offensiveness. In this novel, Roth uses vulgarity and obscenity as a trap: He wants to offend his readers to expose their moralism, so that they cannot ignore the criticism. Roth is using bad words as a tool to separate the open-minded people from the closed-minded people.
The irony of sexual desire
Sexual desire is shameful in flavor, because humans frequently experience desires of staggering complexity and intensity, leaving us to figure out why we want the things we want. But without allowing that process to unfold naturally, sexual desire can become a prison cell where the only way to fulfill one's desire is to indulge in shame. The highlight of this irony is that sex is designed for intimacy, relationship, and the creation of new life, but to the protagonist, sex represents shame, isolation, and hopelessness.
The irony of therapy
By setting the entire novel within the context of a therapy session, the reader becomes the therapist in a way. The reader gets to peak into the private thought life of a character, and they are invited by the setting to participate in psychoanalyzing the character. This is ironic, because a wise reader will see that actually, the reader is being psychoanalyzed by the author. Roth is trying to adjust his reader's relationship to morality.
A strategy
Jack worked for the Boston & Northeastern Life and did his work well. “Before his son” he spoke “with pride” of “The Company”, there was “no sense demeaning himself by knocking them down in public.” After all, they had paid him the wage “during the Depression.” Jack worked in “the impoverished districts that had been given to him to canvass by The Most Benevolent Financial Institution in America.” People who dwelled there didn’t welcome Jack. They “laughed at him, down in the slums,” they “didn’t listen,” when they heard him knock, they called out, “Go away, nobody home.” No matter what, Jack showed great results. The only problem was that “The President” refused to acknowledge his accomplishments and promote him. “Where they had him, they kept him.” The irony is the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Jack tries too hard, not to mention he has never even asked for promotion.
Obsessive
Alex’s mother was the most energetic woman he had ever seen. Her talents and interests were multiple, but her true passion was cleaning. She could wash, clean, and scrub every corner of her tiny apartment, her own body, and her children’s bodies day and night. One could even eat off the floor, so clean was it! “Where health and cleanliness” were concerned, she wouldn’t “spare herself” and “sacrifice others.” The woman was lucky to be born in the 20th century, for nowadays she could be diagnosed with mysophobia or obsessive-compulsive disorder. It could be so that she wasn’t really interested in that cleaning duty of hers, she just wanted her flat look better than the ones where “goys” lived.
Teaching him a lesson
Alex was a sweet little boy, but even the sweetest boys in the world were bound make a mistake at some point. Regardless his academic success, dedication, and quite timid demeanor, there was a year when not a month went by that he didn’t do something “so inexcusable” that he was told “to pack a bag and leave.” The question was, “what could it possibly be?” He was the same “little boy” who spent “whole nights before school” writing “in Old English script the names of his subject.” He carried “a comb and a clean hankie.” His homework was completed “weeks in advance of assignment.” He was “the smartest and the neatest little boy” in the history of his school. However, is questions fell on deaf ears. The irony is that Alex’s mother teaching methods could be more effective if she bothered to tell him what was wrong.
