Irony In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Baby Party

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “The Baby Party” focuses on the suburban scrap between two families during a party for the neighborhood little ones. John and Edith Andros live a charmed life in what seems to be a peaceful neighborhood in the suburbs, and they live here along with Joe and Mrs. Markey. The conflict begins with Edith Andros’ daughter, Ede, pushing Mrs. Markey’s son, Billy, and stealing his teddy bear. Mrs. Andros fails to discipline her daughter, and even goes as far as to laugh alongside Ede. A simple spat spirals into an all out brawl as F. Scott Fitzgerald carefully folds verbal, character, situational, and dramatic irony into the plot of “The Baby Party”. This usage of irony conveys that the projected exterior of a person
Mrs. Andros and Mrs. Markey seem neighborly and kind, considering that their husbands are friends one would expect this, yet Mrs. Andros clearly does not think well of Mrs. Markey, “ She did not care for Mrs. Markey; she considered her both snippy and common, but John and Joe Markey were congenial and went in together on the commuting train every morning, so the two women kept up an elaborate pretence of warm amity” (349). This alerts the reader to the true classless, childish behavior that is to be seen throughout “The Baby Party”, and is the first time we see Mrs. Andros using the word “common”. Edith uses this word again after being asked to leave the Markey residence, “‘I will get out!’ she sobbed. ‘I’ve never heard anybody so rude and c-common in my life. I’m, glad your baby did get pushed down — he’s nothing but a f-fat little fool anyhow’”; however, this time it is clear to the reader that Edith is the one acting common (352). By insulting a child, yelling and crying, and laughing at another's pain, Edith is a mess herself, but still insists that the Markeys are the common folk. The irony in a trashy, senseless character calling another “common” shows the reader the true colors of these suburbanites. The cause of conflict is also shown through irony of character, for, instead of creating a teaching moment out of Ede’s violent outburst, Edith laughs with her daughter, which only promotes more bad behavior, “Before her mother realized the delicacy of the situation, she too had laughed, an audible, distinct laugh not unlike the baby’s, and partaking of the same overtones” (351). Not only is Edith an inept parent, not caring to punish her daughter, but she acts similarly to Ede. Fitzgerald stresses the childlike laugh Edith produces, which results in perhaps one of the most blatant contradictions of character in “The Baby Party”, for no