Irony of insanity
Connie is pronounced mentally unfit or insane of which gets her admitted to a mental facility on two different occasions. However, the story elucidates on her past behaviors that render her insane by societal standards. Thus, showcases it as a matter of perspective especially at a time the medical field was still uninformed on mental health issues. Connie displays violent outbursts but the event that leads to her institutionalization is a rational response. It is ironic that the asylums were adamant to undertake extreme procedures on misconstrued human responses.
Connie’s resistance
Connie’s visions acquaint her with a future that is free of the social issues present in her reality. She feels obligated to fight for this reality but she has to liberate herself from captivity. Ironically her attempts to achieve this feat is either unsuccessful or proves that she is indeed mentally ill. Her intentions are noble and deliberate but they do not seem so to those around her.
Irony of futurity
Luciente enlightens Connie about the future which is egalitarian with redefined social constructs. This future seems viable, as society is gradually moving towards solving the social problems around race, gender, and class. However, Connie is also shown other possible futures that are dystopian in nature with intensified social issues. It is ironic that the future does not guarantee a decline in problems that troubled its past.
Irony of violence
Mattapoisett is portrayed as the epitome of society in harmony that has jettisoned all restrictive social aspects. Luciente affirms their triumphs include the gender neutrality and classless idea of their civilization. However, this utopian future struggles with war though a different kind of warfare with scientists named the Shapers. They wish to continue their experiments to improve humanity hence become a point of contention. It is ironic that a civilization has mastered eliminating controversial social problems but violence still exists as a resolution.
Gender essentialism
Connie’s present is in stark contrast with the utopian future in terms of gender identity and roles thereof. They have eradicated the use of he/she pronouns and adopted androgynous body modifications. Biological functions such as childbearing have been outsourced to machines. There are no gender roles as everyone is genderless rendering gender essentialism futile. By contrast, Connie’s society relies on gender essentialism to pass conclusions about an individual.
