When I Was Puerto Rican (Verbal Irony)
The title of the memoir, When I Was Puerto Rican, is an example of verbal irony. Santiago uses the past tense “was” ironically to comment on how her cultural identity changed after moving to the United States. Most of the memoir covers the author’s childhood, a time when all she knew was Puerto Rico. However, after moving to the United States, she is influenced by American culture. While the author feels just as Puerto Rican as before, she experiences a strange phenomenon that many immigrants experience: she feels like she does not quite fit into her native country or her adopted country. It is this tension that Santiago hints at in the title.
Good Nutrition is Important (Situational Irony)
Experts from San Juan and the U.S. come to Macún to give a workshop on nutrition. They lecture the mothers about the importance of a nutritious diet for their children’s health. They give examples of the proper food to eat, and almost none of the examples are ingredients that can be found in Puerto Rico. At the end, each family receives bags of groceries to take home with food such as peanut butter, cans of fruit cocktail, peaches in heavy syrup, and grape jelly. It is ironic that after lecturing the women about nutrition, the experts give them foods that are canned and contain lots of sugar, none of which is particularly healthy. Furthermore, the people in Macún have easy access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs because they live in the lush countryside. Yet, they are told they need to change their diet and are given canned alternatives.
Esmeralda Fantasizing About Romance (Situational Irony)
Esmeralda longs for romance. She devours tales of romance in books and on the radio, fantasizing about the day that she’ll experience true love. A boy in her school, Johannes Vélez, has a crush on her and Esmeralda likes him back. One day, he shows up at her house to visit her. However, when Esmeralda finally gets the chance to spend time with him, she’s so wrapped up in her dream of romance that she cannot recognize it when it’s right in front of her.
I Had Become a Jíbara/o (Verbal Irony)
Living in Macún, Esmeralda and her family live as jíbaros, or rural Puerto Ricans. However, due to the discrimination that jíbaros face, Ramona insists that they are not jíbaros and discourages Esmeralda from using the term. When they move to the city, Esmeralda’s classmates make fun of her for her country ways, calling her a jíbaro. Santiago's narration in describing this is an example of verbal irony: “In Santurce I had become what I wasn’t in Macún.” Only after leaving the countryside and jíbaro lifestyle did Esmeralda become (known as) a jíbaro.
