Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature Essay

T. C. Boyle’s â€Å"Carnal Knowledge† narrates about the life of Jim, his character and feelings. The use of irony indicates about the real life events and how Jim encountered them. Use of Irony shows how Jim faced tyranny and revealed about his character. Irony is used at different points in the story. Thesis: The use of Irony in this story depicts how man tries to gain love and other materialistic things in life but how events lead to misfortunes and undesirable results. Normally true relations never develop if they’re based on lies and fake attitude. The narrator describes about the meat in the supermarket and it is the first point when Irony is used. He desperately describes the delicious ways in which meat is consumed and an indication how he loves meat and he’s not a vegan. Jim is totally inclined towards the taste and not worried about how the animals are killed. In another instance irony is used when he meets with Alena and Alf. When Jim in out on dinner with Alena, again he had no meat to eat because of Alena’s involvement in animal protection. Irony usually results from person’s own faults in character. Alf peed on Jim. There is he met Alena. Appearance of Alf was another point of irony for him as the dog peed on him. Then later dog tried to attack on him. Jim is not very caring about animals. But when he meets Alena, he does care but not for animals but only for Alena and to prove to be ‘so good’ that he cares. Though he loved to eat meat but he decline to admit in front of Alena that he eat meat and pretended that he’s a vegetarian. It was his irony that he was deprived of having meat in meal in order to show Alena that he’s the same like her and she might got interested in him seeing all these characters. The narrator is also left in irony when he was in turkey farm. Irony was used at this point when Jim’s feelings were hurt as he was left in the farm. Jim tried to save turkeys. Though he did his best to become a good heroic image in the eyes of Alena, but still she did not pay any attention to him and cleared this point to him that there is â€Å"no’ relation between us and our purpose is only to save animals. While saving turkeys he felt more like hungry then wanting to save them. At farm Jim had to handle all the core tasks while his beloved was away with other cores. Though Jim tried to impress Alena with his lies but did not succeed. It was Alena’s love for animals and that’s for she cared. She never thought about meat and the taste. But Jim’s focus was meat and the taste it gives in different forms. Jim’s irony was that he never got what he wanted to be in Alena’s eyes. Conclusion In the â€Å"Carnal Knowledge† irony is used in terms that despite his all efforts to become so good in the eyes of Alena his endeavors were wasted. His character does not seem to be realistic. He lied to prove himself good. He was not really a good person but he tried to be good just to have more attention from Alena, and finally all his efforts were wasted. Works Cited T. C. Boyle’s â€Å"Carnal Knowledge† In Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, Seventh Edition, p. 267