Comparing Irony In 'Like The Sun And The Censors'

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.

The short story “The Censors” by Luisa Valenzuela is set in Argentina during the dictatorship of Jorge Videla who reigned from 1976 to 1983. Juan, the protagonist of the text, starts the story by writing a letter to his old friend, Mariana, at her new residence in Paris. He had received Mariana’s new address from a confidential source and was too excited to think of his actions before writing and sending the letter. Later, Juan’s “mind [was] off his job during the day and [he couldn’t] sleep at night,” thinking of the letter (Valenzuela 966). He believes the contents to be innocent and irreproachable, but the censors of the Argentine government “examine, sniff, feel, and read between the lines of each

Sundiata was not a self-absorbed person, when even at an early age, “malicious tongues began to blab. What three-year-old has not yet taken his first steps (p.15)?” Early on in his life Sundiata showed his since of concern for others when he sees his mother distraught other being slight by Sassouma, Sundiata says, “mother, what’s the matter (p.19)?” When Sundiata makes up his mind to overcome his problem of not walking, and should feel triumphant and celebrator by focusing on what everyone will say about him, he immediately thinks of his mother, “Mother, do you want just the leaves of the baobab or would you rather I brought you the whole tree, (p.19).” When Sassouma tries to set Sundiata up by having the old witches steal from his

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.

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.

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,

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

In the book “Like The Sun” by R.K Narayan has a very specific view of Sekahr and how he wants to be truthful to people and begins a test where he says to the truth to people but the people much rather have him lie Compared to another short story called “The Censor” is to were a man named Juan wanted to send a letter to a girl that was not censored so he took many steps as to become a censor himself were he wasn’t truthful as to why he got the job of a censor years later he become brain washed into his job and censors his own letter not knowing it was his during the ending of his career he was truthful as to why he became a censor but was eventually executed for being a censor bothy stories have a negative

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.

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

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