Question

There is indeed another custom, which I cannot altogether approve of: when the king has a mind to put any of his nobles to death in a gentle indulgent manner, he commands to have the floor strewn with a certain brown powder of a deadly composition, which being licked up, infallibly kills him in twenty-four hours. Which statement explains the irony in the passage best?

Answer 1

I am taking the test now and you must have gotten the order of the answers confused,  believe you were referring the correct answer of D)Name all the nobles who have been put to death by the king.

Answer 2

Based on the selection above from Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, the statement that best explains the irony in the passage best is describing an execution as “gentle” and “indulgent” does not match the violence of executing someone. The answer would be the third option. Hope this answers your question.