Beginning with Autobiography (Situational Irony)
"Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice" features a protagonist with the same name and history as the author This makes the reader expect that the rest of the stories will be autobiographical or at least based on the author's experience. This expectation is reversed and creates situational irony when the second story, "Cartagena," could not be further from Le's experience.
Jamie's Salvation by his Parents (Situational Irony)
Earlier in "Halflead Bay," Jamie has a flashback to a time when he accidentally injured a seagull and his parents tried to force him to kill it. His mother and father seem fixated on him demonstrating his maturity and masculinity by committing a violent act and finishing what he started. This creates situational irony at the end of the story when his parents arrive at the school to prevent him from being beaten up by Dory. This situational irony is enhanced when Jamie goes to Dory's house, gets beaten up, and then is saved again by his father.
Alison's Laughter (Dramatic Irony)
Another irony worth mentioning from "Halflead Bay" is the irony of a femme fatale who lures Jamie into a relationship where secretly she just wants to upset her ex-boyfriend and humiliate someone. She picks Jamie and uses his emotional attachment to approval and self-worth; once she has attracted him to her, she then allows her ex-boyfriend to find out they've been flirting. As the ex-boyfriend beats Jamie up, Alison laughs. The laugh is especially insidious given the horror and violence that is occurring.
Hiroshima (Dramatic Irony)
The story "Hiroshima" is laced with dramatic irony throughout the story since the reader knows that Hiroshima will soon be devastated by the atomic bomb. This dramatic irony does not need to be set up by the text itself since the bombing of Hiroshima is one of the most infamous historical events of the 20th century. This dramatic irony is heightened by the main character of the story being an innocent young girl who does not understand what is happening and is more concerned about being reunited with her family than the possibility of a bombing.
