Comparing Irony In 'Like The Sun And The Censors'

Merriam Webster defines irony as “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.” Throughout Fahrenheit 451, there are strategic examples of irony that Ray Bradbury has placed to make the reader take a second look at what they are reading and think about what makes the piece of writing ironic. It also makes them look at the novel through a second perspective, that of Bradbury himself. There are many examples of irony in the novel, some blatant, and some well hidden.

From a general perspective, literature works are more interesting for the readers when these include a sequence of events that result in unexpected outcomes. If every book you read had exactly what you expected, it would become boring. The fact that the end of a novel is different from what the reader assumes, is what gives life to a story. Readers choose books by their content of conflicts, and often prefer books that are not vague or predictable. The book Fahrenheit 451, is a literary work with various unanticipated incidents; termed ironies. The main character named Montag, is the cause of these ironies. More than one type of irony is identified. There are several literary devices used in short stories, novel, poems,

As the story opens, already the reader is confronted with the topic of concealing the truth. The narrator speaks

In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, he created a sense of irony making the novel more intriguing. The irony keeps the story interesting. The government does everything in its power to keep the people mindless. Knowledge and freedom cannot exist together.

Have you ever read a book with so much irony that it knocks your socks off? Irony takes place in all these stories we are talking about. The Merriam-Webster definition of irony is “the use of words to express something other than, and especially the opposite, of the literal meaning.” These stories will keep you wondering what’s going to happen and when you least expect it, irony will come out of no where and surprise the reader. In the short stories, “The Veldt,” “Just Lather, That’s All,” and “The Ransom of Red Chief,” Irony is active throughout the whole story.

Like a hard steel cage, the lies devour and trap its victim yet only the truth can set you free. Edward bloor expresses this through a young boy, Paul Fisher whom knew the truth but flowed with the lies. He was blamed and framed for vandalizing an exhibit at a local carnival yet it wasn’t him. Paul not only was blamed but he witnessed a murder and decided to keep quiet, not only was his silence killing others but it was killing him on the inside. Young fisher reminded me of my own self sometimes. I have encountered time where i could choose to speak up and say the truth or hide in the shadows and let others face the penalty.

In the novel 1984, irony is used by George Orwell to bring attention to the corrupt totalitarian society and brainwashing of the public by the books evil political group known as “The Party”. Irony is a style of writing in which there is a noticeable difference between what is said and the intended meaning. Verbal irony is used in the book when the Party’s three slogans are first mentioned. “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (4, Orwell). “War is Peace” is said while the country is constantly in a state of war, this is ironic because although the country is at combat this is maintaining peace among the public by distracting it from the corrupt political atmosphere around them. “Freedom is Slavery” is ironic because the outer party is enslaved to the government while the inner party leaders have total freedom because of the people’s lack of power. Lastly, “Ignorance is Strength” because the obliviousness of the public provides more control to the party leaders because the nation is unaware of what is truly happening. These slogans are not only ironic but examples of an oxymoron because the statements are contradictory. This is one of the many examples of the irony in the novel. With the use of

Lying has become an integral part of life, hiding the ugly truth from ourselves, and others. I lie. You lie. We all lie. We all tell those harmless little lies, little falsehoods that seem to do no damage, that do not hurt anything. And none of us feel the slightest bit guilty about it. But does our lack of guilt illustrate the justification of lies? When someone lies, they can harm themselves, in addition to society and others. In short, “when someone lies, someone loses”(Ericsson 121); This is apparent in works such as Stephanie Ericsson’s essay “The Ways We Lie,” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, and John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden.

Anatole France once said, “Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom.” Ray Bradbury uses multiple examples of irony in his novel. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the story takes place in a futuristic dystopian society, where books are illegal. In this society, people spend most of their time watching TV and they hardly talk to anyone. Guy Montag is a “fireman” who burns books. He is content with his job, until he meets a young girl named Clarisse who is different from the rest of society, which causes him to think. When he later witnesses an old woman burning herself with her books, Montag feels guilty about his job. He secretly tries to preserve books, which causes some problems for him because it is illegal. Through the help of an old man named Faber, Montag is able to preserve some books and later starts to build a new society. Bradbury clearly uses many examples of irony such as the different role of firemen in the society, Montag going against his duty, and the society being burned in the end.

The suppression of people can create a layer of iron. In The Censors by Luisa Valenzuela Juan leads himself down a path of irony. Juan receives a letter from a friend who has relocated to Paris. He feels compelled to write back to her, but he knows what he must write will be censored by the overbearing government. ”He knows that they sniff, feel, and read inbetween the lines of each and every letter”(174).

Luisa Valenzuela, author of the short story “The Censors” and Martin Luther King, author of the speech “I Have a Dream” both transmit the theme that being over ambitious can distract you from what you want to accomplish. The literary elements used by Valenzuela in “The Censors” are situational irony,when something unexpected happens and plot, the important events in a text. Situational irony can be seen in the beginning and end of the story, the quotes that reveal this are “Well you’ve got to beat them to the punch...sabotage the machinery.” and “His basket for censored letters became the best fed.”. This demonstrates that, in the beginning of the story Juan disliked the censors, but in the end he became the best censor, which shows situational

A strongminded man who has everything going for him, nice job nice car, great friends, etc. comes home every night to a sick mother whom he takes care of after a long day of living a lavish life. His one weakness is his sick mother because she taught him everything. No one, not even his best friend knows about his other life and so that 's how he keeps it. Oh the irony right? Big strong man afraid to live his truth in fear of change and facing his reality. In The Metamorphosis, author Franz Kafka speaks on a character name Gregor, who somehow manages to transform into a hideous insect, and the ironic life he lives. During the story Gregor has a family whom he cares for, a job as a salesman, and a lack in

Telling the truth is not always the simplest solution. In times of guilt and distress, most fear that the truth will only further complicate a situation. The selfish fear that complications will have negative impacts on one’s own image can persuade one to avoid reality completely. However, no matter how hard it may be, it is always best to be transparent. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini indicates that in an order to preserve one’s honour, people will deceive others, flee their situations and dismiss reality. However, the truth is always revealed. Deception can appear to be the easiest way to handle an undesirable circumstance, but the results can prove to be pernicious.

In The “The Censor “ they treat Honesty as almost to a certain extent to in the beginning he wasn't honest and gradually forgot about the letter and was honest to himself as to why he got the job.They tread deception to where you would think because he was doing such a great job he would receive a reward but later on gets executed for being a censor in which is a social issue around the world. It is its own paradox in which all of those extra steps were useless and had no meaning.

The Censors The author, Luisa Valenzuela was born on 1938 in Buenos Aires Argentina. Valenzuela blends ordinary with fantastical she also has an ability to play with words and language. Many critics consider Valenzuela’s work a” magical realism.”. Valenzuela wrote The Censors in 1976 a short story about a man named Juan, who sends a letter to his lover Mariana but later on realises that his letter would get them both in trouble with the censorship department, so he decides to join the censorship department to delete the letter to save Mariana. The Censors might have been written because of what Valenzuela had to experience in Argentina, during the 1970s the military faction took in Argentina took over the government.