Can Strings Foretell the Length of Your Life? (Dramatic Irony)
When Ben is in Grand Central Terminal reflecting on the painting that is painted from the perspective of the divine looking down at the stars, he questions the meaning of the strings. The strings have just arrived and people are hypothesizing that they foretell the length of someone’s life. Here we have an example of dramatic irony because we, the reader, already know that these strings are real, and do tell the measure of the length of someone’s life. However, Ben and the rest of the world aren't sure if this is possible.
Life's Biggest Question Answered—Only to Cause More Anxiety (Situational Irony)
One of the most prevalent fears within society is the fear of death. Part of this fear is not knowing when one will die. The arrival of the strings gives everyone the option to learn the length of their life. While theoretically, this should relieve a lot of stress, instead, in an instance of situational irony, we see ever-increasing tension and anxiety. This anxiety includes short-stringers with 10 to 15 years left as well as long-stringers, like Nina, who love short-stringers.
The Invincibility of Short-Stringers (Situational Irony)
In The Measure, we see the situational irony of short-stringers. While long-stringers see the existence of the strings as a gift because of the peace of mind it grants, short-stringers are seen as invincible and dangerous. As violence committed by short-stringers gains more media attention, people's empathy towards short-stringers turns into fear. This is due to the irony that while long-stringers have the gift of life, short-stringers have the gift of not living to face the consequences of their actions (p. 70).
The Measure (Situational Irony)
When the boxes arrive, people fixate on its inscription: The measure of your life lies within, and interpret it as meaning the measure of your life is the length of it. Over the course of the narrative, the characters come to recognize that they can choose their measure. Ben realizes this after meeting the girl to whom Hank donated his lungs. While she doesn’t know the length of her string, she decides to measure her life based on experiences rather than the length of her life. In Amie’s letters to Ben, she implores him to choose the measure of his life because then he can still have a good life. In Nina’s eulogy for Maura she describes how even though Maura has fewer chapters in the book of her life, her chapters are the ones you can't put down. Thus, she assigns a different measure to Maura's life, one based on impact and lust for life.
