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Definition of Verbal Irony
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging outside and someone remarks "what... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean. When there's a hurricane raging... read full definition
Verbal irony occurs when the literal meaning of what someone says is different from—and often opposite to—what they actually mean... read full definition
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Smart Fools:
In Chapter 4, Byron tells Hightower about Brown's testimony to the sheriff, including his accusation that Christmas has Black ancestry. Brown uses verbal irony to insult the townspeople for failing to realize the Christmas is Black, but his accusation reveals an important situational irony:
‘You’re so smart,’ he says. ‘The folks in this town is so smart. Fooled for three years. Calling him a foreigner for three years, when soon as I watched him three days I knew he wasn’t no more a foreigner than I am. I knew before he even told me himself.’ And them watching him now, and looking now and then at one another.
Brown is trying to distract the sheriff and townspeople from the fact that he waited several hours before reporting the fire at Joanna's house. He uses Christmas's ambiguous racial background to whip everyone into a frenzy even greater than that over his own poor citizenship. Most of the White people in Jefferson believe that there are fundamental differences between Black people and White people. By using verbal irony, calling the townspeople "smart" when he really means the opposite, Brown pokes at their own racist insecurities about being able to identify Black people in their midst. He invites them to worry not only about Christmas, but also about where they went wrong in failing to notice the man's Blackness. Brown noticed, so why weren't they smart enough to notice?
Brown's accusation and the townspeople's reaction reveals that, ironically, White supremacy makes Blackness important and even coveted by the townspeople. Neither Brown, nor Christmas, nor most of the townspeople has a true sense of belonging in Jefferson. They all have their own stories that alienate them from their neighbors. Still, everyone in town has been calling Christmas a "foreigner" and freezing him out for the three years since his arrival. They see his slightly dark skin as evidence that he might be from Eastern Europe, Mexico, or somewhere else distant to them. Wherever he is from, they think he has even less in common with them than their other neighbors do. Brown, however, was quickly able to see that "he wasn't no more a foreigner than I am." Noticing Christmas's Blackness is the very thing that makes Brown see him as not a foreigner, but rather as a Southerner. Ironically, once the townspeople too learn that Christmas might be Black, they want a closer relationship with him—even if that relationship is one of violence and vitriol.
Related Themes:
