They drove back to the house to let the old woman off and pick up the lunch. When they were ready to leave, she stood staring in
the window of the car, with her fingers clenched around the glass. Tears began to seep sideways out of her eyes and run along the dirty creases in her face. “I ain’t ever been parted with her for two days before,” she said. Which best describes the irony in the excerpt?
A. Mrs. Crater has never been separated from her daughter, and now she must let her go for two days.
B. Mrs. Crater’s tears are insincere because she is happy that her daughter is finally leaving her alone.
C. Instead of experiencing the joy of gaining a son-in-law, Mrs. Crater feels the sorrow of losing her daughter.
D. As the two part ways, Lucynell does not feel the same amount of emotional despair as her mother.
Answer: C) Instead of experiencing the joy of gaining a son-in-law, Mrs. Crater feels the sorrow of losing her daughter.
Explanation: an irony is a state of affairs or an event that seems contrary to what one expects and it often has an amusing result. In the given excerpt we can see the description of a situation in which a mother is really sad because she is going to be separated from her daughter for two days. This situation is an example of an irony because Mrs. Crater feels the sorrow of losing her daughter instead of experiencing the joy of gaining a son-in-law.
