Irony In 'Hills Like White Elephants And A & P'

Denzel Morales Dr. Tomko WRT-201-035 February 6, 2009 Irony in “Hills Like White Elephants” and “A&P” Several authors use irony to strengthen their story or to make a point out to its reader like in the short stories “A&P” which was written by John Updike and “Hills Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway. In these two short stories the author use ironic situations which made the reader have a better understanding of the story. The irony in these stories can be found in many parts of the story like the setting, the use of words, and even in the title itself. The ironic twists in these stories are indeed believable. In the short story “A&P”, Updike uses lots of irony throughout his story. Sammy decided to step up to the plate and quit right in front of his boss in his attempt to impress the three girls that walked in the supermarket.
The ironic part of this situation is that the girls don’t even hear him. They are out of the store before Sammy could finish up his heroic scene. This irony is important because it made Sammy understand that he thinks differently. He thinks that, that moment should be a moment of celebration but ironically it wasn’t. He is forced into a moment of maturity and realizes that things won’t be as easy as he expected. When this happened to Sammy it completely changed his outlook about the world in which he declared, “my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (36). Updike also uses irony in the setting of his story and his description of his characters. The story took place in a supermarket that was located in the middle of the town right by a