University:
University of North Georgia
Course:
ECED 3050 | Literature & Language
Academic year:

2021
Views:

427

Pages:

1
Author:

zbrkanogiorr

When reading “Us and Them” by David Sedaris, readers can acknowledge a sufficient amount of irony. The first ironic example in Sedaris’s memoir was when his parents were talking about the Tomkeys’ did not believe in watching T.V. “Well, good for him. I don’t know that I believe in it, either.” said Sedaris’ dad. The mother’s response was, “That is exactly how I feel,” as they continued to watch T.V. (850). Another example of irony in the memoir was when Sedaris and his siblings went trick-or-treating, and the Tomkeys’ had a bowl of gumdrops with a sign next to them that said: “Don’t be greedy.” (852). Sedaris states, “It was insulting to be told not to take too much of something you didn’t really want in the first place.” (852) The irony takes place when, the next day after Halloween, the Tomkeys’ were trickor-treating, and Sedaris’ mom did not want to tell them they gave all their candy away, so she makes Sedaris and his sisters give away their candy. Instead of sharing his candy Sedaris acts greedy and tries to eat all his candy quick before his mom came into his room and got the candy herself, “I began breaking the wax lips, and candy necklaces pulled from pile no. 2. These were the second-best things I had received, and while it hurt to destroy them, it would hurt even more to give them away.” (854). It was ironic because the sign said do not be greedy and Sedaris was insulted by it, but then later tries to eat all of the candy so that the Tomkeys’ cannot get any.