The irony of Wak
Wak is Stella's and Odie's brother residing in Uganda with their parents during political turmoil. The father of these three siblings is an affluent minister, and he does his best to provide for the family. Unfortunately, the father of these siblings dies, leaving them with their ailing mother. Satirically, instead of Wak taking care of his ailing mother and his siblings, he runs away at the altitude of the political turbulence to start a new life in a foreign country. Ironically, Wak opts to leave his miserable and ailing mother behind to live alone in a different country. Wak's mother dies while he is away from Uganda.
The irony of Odie
After Wak leaves the family, Odie and her sister are unhappy because they are left to maneuver lonely in a hostile political environment. After the mother dies, Odie begins to plan how he will inherit his father's estate. To achieve this goal, Odie spreads false news, telling people that Wak will never come back because he is long dead. The reader finds it ironic that a brother can stand up to spread fake news about his brother inheriting property. Wak reappears many years later, and this escalates the hatred between him and Odie. However, Odie is worried that inheritance will be taken from him, and people will know that he spread false news about his brother's death.
The irony of reconciliation
Reconciliation is not an easy thing because it happens only after two opposing groups are brought together. Wak is a traitor and he leaves his family when they need him most. Odie and Stella endure ten years of violence and the loss of their mother. Odie starts a convincing campaign society that Wak is not fit to participate in the rebuilding of Uganda because he is simply a conspirator. Odie goes ahead to tell people that Wak is dead. However, when Wak returns, he does not get angry with his brother's malicious lies, which is beyond readers' expectations.
The irony of smear campaigns
The author depicts society as an entity that is glad to hear lies, and politicians have perfected the art of luring people to believe unsubstantiated facts in society. Odie drives his campaigns based on lies about his brother, Wak, to position himself as the chosen leader to reconstruct Uganda. Ironically, voters are not keen to choose a leader based on true ideologies but malicious lies and corruption. At last, Odie wins the campaign, and he is declared the supreme leader. After coming to power, Odie manipulates the laws to suit his selfish gains.
The irony of forgiveness
The deeds done in darkness can, at last, be brought to light and expose the true traitors in society. After Odie gets to power, he does everything to retain his power, including killing opposers and stealing from the public to ensure that he remains powerful. However, the corrupt deeds and sins of Odie are brought to life, and society realizes that he had been taking them for a ride. For instance, society realizes that Odie lied to them about his brother, Wak. It is revealed that Wak decided to leave the country because his brother, Odie, was behind the massive deaths of innocent people. Ironically, Odie accepts that he wronged society, and he is forgiven!
