Men should not judge other men
When William was asked about his time serving the Inquisition, he admitted that he did not agreed with some of their beliefs because he believed that only God can judge other men. Ironically, while William did not agreed with those practices, he did judge other people during the time he served in the Inquisition. His statement thus makes him seem hypocritical and unjust.
Holy images
While looking into the death of Adelmo, William was shown the book he was working on before he died and the illustrations he made. The illustrations were completely different from what a normal person would put on the sides of a sacred text as they depicted goofy animals in various positions. For William, these illustrations are ironic as he does not consider that they have a place on a sacred text.
Scared of advancements
In the first chapter, the narrator talks about various technological advancements, such as glasses and how many people were too scared of those new inventions to use them. The reason why they were afraid is because the Church had the tendency to deem heretic any person who dared to be different and to step out of line. Ironically thus, instead if wanting to help mankind and the people in general to better their lives, the Church did the complete opposite by hindering the progress of technology and by making it hard for society to advance.
Hypocrisy
Adso describes in great detail the jewels and the wealth the abbey has. In comparison with most people living then, the abbey was extremely wealthy and had access to various things many could only dream off. Adso notes ironically that while the abbey and the people inside it had no problems living in luxury, they tried to convince other people from outside the church that God wanted them to live a simple life, a poor life. This aspect is ironical in Adso’s perspective who notes that the people in the abbey are hypocritical and unjust.
It is better to be ignorant
At the abbey, Adso quickly learns about the ways of the world and about various disputes between different religious groups and political factions. Knowing all this, and seeing how it influenced the people, Adso wished he would have remained ignorant in his father’s house instead of being let to know all the horrible things happening in the world. Ironically however, some character in the book were willing to give their life for knowledge and for the truth while other characters like Adso only cared about themselves and about their own good.
