Irony is in nearly every literary work, some even have a main focus of being ironic. A good example of irony in literature is "1984" by George Orwell. The main character, Winston, is very resentful and disgusted with the way that things are run in Oceania. He knows of the life before the total government control, and he begins to wish that he could overthrow the party. He eventually falls in love with a girl named Julia, who is supposed to be closer to the officials, but he finds that she too doesn't like the party. What makes the story ironic is that because of Julia and their secret affair, Winston is caught and tortured. The government basically brainwashes him into believing that he loves the party. They take a once secret conspiring rebel and make him into a loyal government control supporter.
The story also has its own dialect with special definitions. One of the words that is in the book is doublethink, which is thinking two completely different thoughts at once. This alone is ironic because it is humanly impossible to think several things at one time and have a complete comprehension of both. The story also has the thought police, which is a group that is part of the government that searches for people committing "thought crimes", or things that is either against the law or against the government's beliefs. Winston knows that his thoughts are not safe, which results in his demise later in the story. The book is made up of ironic elements that make the nature of the book deeper. Without irony, this book, like many others, would lose all meaning.
The story also has its own dialect with special definitions. One of the words that is in the book is doublethink, which is thinking two completely different thoughts at once. This alone is ironic because it is humanly impossible to think several things at one time and have a complete comprehension of both. The story also has the thought police, which is a group that is part of the government that searches for people committing "thought crimes", or things that is either against the law or against the government's beliefs. Winston knows that his thoughts are not safe, which results in his demise later in the story. The book is made up of ironic elements that make the nature of the book deeper. Without irony, this book, like many others, would lose all meaning.