There are three kinds of irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational. The story "EPICAC" by Kurt Vonnegut is built on dramatic irony: certain information is revealed to us as readers but not to the characters of the story.
The irony of "EPICAC" is that the computer is actually the one who made Pat fall in love. Though the narrator tells EPICAC that a human can never love a machine, in reality, Pat has only fallen in love because of the machine.
There is also a little bit of situational irony in the poems. Though the narrator convinces Pat to marry him and promises her a poem for every anniversary, he has no reason to believe that he will actually be able to compose a new poem every year. He doesn't want to think about it; after all, has a year until the next poem needs to be written.
The truth is, he shouldn't be able to give her a new poem for each anniversary, especially after EPICAC has died. However, there is situational irony in the fact that EPICAC's parting gift was a huge collection of poems, giving the narrator exactly what he needs to continue making Pat happy—something he couldn't do without the computer, but the computer also couldn't do without him.
http://typesofirony.com/the-3-types-of-irony/
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
What are some types of irony in "EPICAC"?
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