Discuss+examples+of+irony+within+the+story+including+that+Pecola+is+tormented+by+black+boys+and+why+Cholly+covers+Pecola+after+the+rape.

One of the most noticeable and significant ironies in the novel seems to be the one underlining self-hatred that is inherent in the black community. The hostile attitude that black characters show towards each other, or the antagonistic behaviors that the lighter-skinned blacks demonstrate to other black characters, signifies the prevalent trend of black to black hatred, while also underlining the lack of self-esteem and concept of self-worth within the black community.

For example, the fact that Pecola receives abusive treatment not only from her white peers at school, but also from black boys who call Pecola “Black e mo” (65), is striking due to the irony in that the black boys seem to have absorbed the same negative perception that the collective community holds against black people, even though they are also black. Another ironic incident can be found when Maureen, a light-skinned black girl, turns out to be similarly despising other black people, just as the black boys do. Geraldine, a black woman who constantly emphasizes the fact that there is an “easily identifiable” difference between well-educated, wealthy, colored people and simply “dirty, loud… niggers” (87), is a character that clearly despises the less privileged, poor blacks despite her own racial background being the same. Both Maureen and Geraldine, ironically, demonstrate hatred towards the black, as they believe they are different from the poor black people in the community they look down on, mainly due to their relatively wealthier economic status.

Such demonstration of antagonistic attitude occurs within a black family as well. Pauline, mother of Pecola, mistreats her daughter, for example, exercising violence as punishment when Pecola drops blueberries on the floor, without showing any kinds of concern for Pecola. In contrast, Pauline becomes a loving woman in front of the “little pink-and-yellow girl” of the white family she is working for. The ironical fact that a black mother devotes her care and attention to a white girl, who is not a part of her family, while abusing her own black daughter, highlights the disintegration and hopelessness that are characteristic of the black community depicted in the novel.

Soaphead Church is also full of ironical personal qualities. He also emphasizes inner racism through the fact that he abhors blackness despite his own race as a light-skinned black man. Soaphead Church also shows strong aversion towards people and dirtiness in general. Ironically, his job requires constant interactions with people, and the actions he performs, such as touching little girls as a pedophile, cannot be considered clean.

A misguided concept of love is another issue that surfaces through the use of irony within the novel. Cholly, experiences an ironic transformation of love into hatred with her lovers, starting from the very first girl he has his sexual experience with, Darlene. Even though he initially felt attracted towards her, Cholly ends up feeling an incredible degree of hatred towards Darlene; his hatred towards the white men gets shifted to Darlene, as he is incapable of expressing such hatred or taking any actions against the white men. Similarly, Cholly, who once loved Pauline, now abuses Pauline without being able to handle his revulsion. Cholly’s twisted development of love leads to the point where he mistakenly regards raping as an expression of love towards his daughter. After the rape, he is overwhelmed with the inexplicably mixed sensation of hatred and tenderness towards Pecola. It is out of such ironic feeling of tenderness and guilt for having been incapable of doing anything for his daughter that he chooses to cover Pecola, without realizing that what he has done is a brutal act of violence, not a tender expression of parental love.