The Arroyo
The narrator describes the little ravine across the road as “our personal Mississippi” in an ironic bit of hyperbole. By definition, an arroyo can only be compared to the Mississippi River ironically.
Thematic Irony
The author engages irony at one point to reveal the immaturity of the narrator. When he writes “we would yell about girls, and all the things we wanted to do with them, as loud as we could—we didn’t know what we wanted to do with them, just things” the act of shouting out an intent to experience something even though he and his friend are not exactly sure what that thing is becomes an ironic reflection of his inability to use words to describe an experience they actually underwent.
The Emerald City
The description of the golf course—before they know it is a golf course—as the Emerald City is invested with irony. For one thing, special glasses had to be used in the book for the residents of Oz to see the city as green whereas no such glasses are needed for the kids. More importantly, however, is the underlying irony of the allusion. While Dorothy wanted desperately to leave Oz and return home, these boys are forced to leave their dreamland.
Heaven
The greatest irony in the story, perhaps, is the confusion of the boys. Who but affluent middle-aged husbands trapped in loveless marriages ever thought of a golf course as heaven in terms that weren’t ironic?
Buried Perfection
The most profound irony of the story, however, is that the secret lion—that indescribable thing of perfection—must be buried precisely it is a thing of perfection. One normally expects a thing of perfection to be priceless because it can be shared and seen, but the boys attain a superiority of maturity by recognizing that perfection is best buried and remembered.
