Irony is a literary term that is a contrast between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen. The short stories “The Bet,” “The Necklace,” “Harrison Bergeron,” and ¨The Piece of Yarn¨ all have different examples of irony that drive the plot forward toward the climax. The authors in each of the these stories depicts irony in a way that draws the reader into the story.
In the narrative “The Bet,” it starts out with the Lawyer and the Banker having a discussion about capital punishment vs. life in prison. They considered that form of punishment out of date, immoral, and unsuitable for Christian state (Chekhov 160). The Lawyer bets the Banker that he can stay in confinement for fifteen years for 2 millions. While in confinement, the Lawyer has everything he asked for and then some, but he was still unhappy with his decision.
The Banker gambled away most of his fortune on the stock market, and he is now as desperate for money as the Lawyer once was. Toward the end of the story, the Banker considers murdering the Lawyer to save himself, even though at the beginning he says capital punishment is very wrong. The Lawyer rejects his earnings, leaving with nothing he hoped to get.
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In the short story “The Necklace,” Madame Loisel wants nothing more than to go to the ball in a beautiful dress with plenty of accessories. She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing; and these were the only things she loved (De Maupassant 1). Her husband wants nothing more than English II to make his wife happy, so he gives up his dream of what he wants. He had saved that same amount to buy a gun and treat himself to a hunting trip the following summer (De Maupassant 3).
Even though he gave up what he had been saving for, she was still not happy. Madame Loisel got a dress then borrowed a necklace from her friend, Madame Forestier. She danced all night long and did not even notice when the necklace was gone. The couple looked everywhere for it, but could never find the necklace. They had to sell everything and move and go to work to be able to afford the replica of the necklace.
The irony in this story is that after ten years of hard work and labor, Madame Loisel finds out the necklace was a fake and that they have wasted time worrying about a worthless item.
The story “The Piece of Yarn” focuses on the irony of a man dying over a piece of string. Hauchecorne is walking in town on market day when he sees a piece of string on the ground. Hauchecorne, thrifty like the true Norman he was, thought it worthwhile to pick up anything that could be useful (De Maupassant 173-174). Meanwhile, his enemy is watching him and finds it suspicious of him to be picking up something off of the ground.
Hauchecorne was humiliated by the fact of someone seeing him. He gets blamed for stealing a pocketbook and is called a liar. The townspeople made fun of him and said he was lying because he protected his innocence too much. He visibly began to weaken (De Maupassant 178). Soon after everything happened, Hauchecorne died because he overthought what everyone thought of him.
The short stories “The Bet,” “The Necklace,” and “The Piece of Yarn” all focus around irony that make the story what it is. The irony in them drive the plot forward and make the climax more interesting in many ways. In “The Bet,” the Banker says at the beginning that English III capital punishment is inhumane but towards the end he considers killing the Lawyer to save himself.
In “The Necklace,” Madame Loisel gives up everything she has to be able to pay back for a necklace that is worthless. In “The Piece of Yarn,” Hauchecorne dies over a piece of string and what people think of him. Even with the different ironies in the short stories, they all make the story more interesting and make the story what it is.
