Irony of African Americans
There is an irony in the narrator's refusal of going to a black camp. While living in Santa Monica, the narrator and his sister became used to the white culture and manners. Furthermore, they resented the blacks despite of being black by themselves. When Gunnar's mother asks about shifting in a black camp, he responds by saying "they are different from us." This statement is also ironical because they were the same and were being treated in a same manner by the white society. After moving to Hillside, Gunnar understands that his perspective regarding the black community was wrong.
Irony of Discrimination
The prejudice against the blacks is also ironical because they were living like American individuals. Gunnar was attending school like his American class fellows and there was no basis for discrimination against him but still he faces bullying in his school. When Christina returns from her camp, she feels despondent because of her fellows. The students started shouting "yeah white camp" to cheer each other up and this action makes her feel left out. She feels out of place because of her black identity and a sense of not belonging to her fellows overpowers her. It is ironical that the discriminatory attitude against blacks is prevalent in educational institutions as well. The schools lays the foundation of a society and the prejudice is present in the foundations.
Irony of Class Fellows
It is ironical that Gunnar's class fellows bullied him and when Gunnar talked about a famous literary piece, they didn't know about it. They says, "The Odyssey? Ain't that some club over on Slauson and Normandie?" Gunnar was treated with humility in his school but he had more knowledge as compared to his white class fellows. Furthermore, the author has also highlighted the ironical tendency of visiting the night clubs in young boys. Gunnar's class fellows at the age of fourteen or fifteen were indulged in frequenting bars and night clubs.
There is an irony in Peyote Chandler's burning her face. She was Gunnar's class fellow in Boston university and she was so much obsessed with her favorite writer, Sylvia Plath that she tried to replicate her death after her breakup with her boyfriend Skip Pettibone Helmsford. In that attempt, she forgot to turn the stove pilot off and eventually burnt her face after shoving her head in the oven.
Irony of Gunnar
Gunnsr feels himself as an alien among the blacks, which is quite ironical because he was a part of black community instead of the whites with whom he associates himself. While sitting among the black people he says, “I sat like a tiny bubble in a boiling cauldron of teenage blackness, wondering where all the heat came from. Kids popped up out of their chairs to shout, whispered, tugged at each other. Homeroom was a raucous orchestral concerto conducted by some unseen maestro. In the middle of this unadulterated realness I realized I was a cultural alloy, tin-hearted whiteness wrapped in blackened copper plating.”
When his sister complains about the discriminatory attitude of her fellows on their way back from the museum trip, he says that she has misunderstood them. He doesn't accept that the whites can make her feel isolated. He even tries to cover their prejudice. Gunnar looks down upon the people of Hillside and he marries a White woman instead of a black woman because the stereotypes regarding blacks were instilled in his personality.
Irony of Law
It is ironical that the African Americans faced different laws while residing in America. They were not considered as equal citizens in the eyes of American law. The blacks were not even allowed to sit together in the evenings. Gunnar ironically says, "we strictly abided by the unwritten law prohibiting black boys over fifteen from sitting next to each other in the dark."
Not all blacks were treated in a same manner instead there was distinction between them. Gunnar describes it as "In Santa Monica, like most predominantly white sanctuaries from urban blight, "cool black guy" is a versatile identifier used to distinguish the harmless black male from the Caucasian juvenile while maintaining politically correct semiotics."
