That's an interpretive question that would ask us to get inside the mind of Lincoln from a distance a century and a half away. We do know that Lincoln long had moral and political objections to slavery. He had outlined some of those thoughts in a speech given in Peoria, Illinois, in 1854. But Lincoln's views on what to do about slavery were something that took shape over time. In the Peoria speech, he suggested that perhaps slaves should be freed in order to be returned to Africa. But as the conflict over slavery grew and the Civil War became a reality, Lincoln became firmer in seeing this as a struggle not just over preserving the Union but also a battle for human dignity and the principle of equality. And so in the Gettysburg Address, in 1863, he affirmed the principle stated by the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. The massive number of casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg certainly gave impetus to Lincoln's words about preserving the Union and government of the people, by the people and for the people. But those ideas had been central to Lincoln's worldview before Gettysburg as well as in that speech.
Anne Frank, Adolf Hitler and 100 of thousands of Jews
The best answer is Mrs. Crater claims that she would not give her daughter away for anything, when in fact she gives her away for nothing at all.
Explanation
If you talk about the irony of a situation, you mean that it is odd or amusing because it involves a contrast. So when Mr. Crater says <em>"I wouldn’t give her up for nothing on earth"</em>, she doesn't mean it because she even pays Mr. Shiftlet to marry her daughter.
The other answers does not demonstrate the true irony of the excerpt:
- Mrs. Crater asserts that Lucynell can sweep, cook, feed the chickens, and h o. but the girl also is very smart: This can be considered ironic but it is not the irony of the whole excerpt.
- Mrs. Crater is describing all of her daughter’s strengths to Mr. Shiftlet in the hopes that he will marry Lucynell: This is not an irony.
- Crater says she values her daughter more than anything in the world, but then she gives her away for a car: This is not true.