Back to Where You Came From (Situational Irony)
In the memoir's prologue, Clarke is walking through her neighborhood, pushing her daughter in a pram, when a white man slows his car to shout racist abuse at her. At the end of his tirade, the man says, "Go the fuck back to where you came from, back to your own fucken country, nigger!" The man's words sit uneasily with Clarke in the days that follow. She comments: "This is my country, that much I am sure. I was born here, the child of Black British parents." In this instance of situational irony, the racist's demand that she go back to her own country is exposed as not only abusive but absurdly ignorant, as Clarke was born and raised in the same country as him.
Pinstripe Suit and Red Bag (Situational Irony)
When recounting the story of her parents' move to Australia, Clarke details how her father knows Australia isn't as culturally diverse as England. Because of this, he doesn't mention his race when arranging to meet in London a professor from the university he hopes to work at in Sydney, saying only that he'll be wearing a pinstripe suit. In turn, the other man says he'll be carrying a red bag. When they meet at Victoria Station, Bordy sees a Chinese Australian man carrying a red bag. In this instance of situational irony, the man Bordy worries will judge him because he isn't white turns out not to be white either. Perhaps feeling similarly self-conscious about identifying himself by his ethnicity, the Chinese Australian professor obscures his race in the same way Bordy does.
School Became Much More Bearable (Situational Irony)
As Clarke and her friends approach senior high school, more and more fellow students drop out. Clarke writes: "Kids who weren't academically inclined joined the trade stream and were funneled into various local TAFE programs. Some were offered full-time jobs at Pizza Hut or the local car mechanic's or Coles. School became much more bearable." In this instance of situational irony, Clarke comments on how the issue of student attrition is a positive thing for her. While some people might be moved to sympathize with students who struggle in school, Clarke wryly implies that the less-bright students are the same students who have been making her life a living hell.
Clarke's Racist Bullying of Bhagita (Situational Irony)
When Clarke is in high school, she gets her hair braided into micro-plaits. In class, Bhagita Singh comments on how poor Indian women sell their hair to make hair extensions for Black women. When the bullies overhear this and say that Clarke is wearing a "curry muncher's" hair, Clarke deflects the attention by attacking Bhagita, saying no one would buy her hair because it smells like curry. She also pretends to snip off Bhagita's long braid, poking fun at the significance of hair to Sikhs. In this instance of situational irony, Clarke becomes a racist bully herself, hurling stereotypes at Bhagita despite knowing how painful it is to receive them.
