Friendship
The narrator describes the nature of friendships at the camp as, ‘ For there exists in the camp a special brand of justice based on envy: when the rich and mighty fall, their friends see to it that they fall to the very bottom.’ This is situational irony for one would expect that friends take care of each other and help mitigate each other’s loses. The friends in the camp rather made sure that their friends sank very low.
Dramatic irony of the transport from Sosnowiec-Bedzin
It is dramatic irony that the people who came to the camp from Sosnowiec-Bedzin did not know their fate which was that they would be killed and the other characters in the novel such as the narrator knew. The people would be gassed in the gas chambers and the narrator and his fellow camp mates knew that this was their fate.
Judging of the character of the woman at the camp
A woman arrived at the camp at Auschwitz and when she realized that she was going to be killed because she had a child, denied that the child was hers so that she could survive. A guard saw this and judged the woman and killed her because of this. He perceived himself better than her. It is ironical that the guard would judge the woman and administer punishment when he was involved in the mass murder of the Jewish people.
Becker’s Doings
Becker was a Jew at a camp. It is ironical that he killed his son for stealing food in the camp and he was also responsible for the death of some other Jews at the camp. This is a situational irony because he should have preserved the lives of his son and fellow countrymen instead of directly causing their death.
The distribution of the second helpings of food
In the story, A Day at Harmenz, the narrator says that second helpings of food were given to those who appeared stronger and healthier. The ones that appeared weak and sickly were given less food. This is a situational irony because the expectation is that those who appear weak should be fed more so that they can regain their strength.
