Literary Term #15: Situational Irony
Situational Irony: A situation in which outcome is different from what was expected.
Example: “Stacy’s destructive journey was over. My little sister was dead. We found her on the floor, curled up in a tight fetal position” (70). Coben, Harlan. No Second Chance. New York: New American Library, 2004. Print.
Function: This finding of Stacy being dead within the cabin caused situational irony within the passage because the authorities and the protagonist, Doctor Marc Seidman, were expecting to catch Stacy Seidman with her brother’s daughter, but, to their surprise, they found her dead in the stated fetal position instead of alive and with Marc’s daughter as they had expected. This usage of situational irony
