The ironic goal
The novel starts on an ironic, almost satirical note. George struggles to gain clarity from within his crippling brain fog, and the reader leans in to figure out what his motivation might be. He finally realizes it, and the reader says, "Oh no." It turns out, his only desire in life is to kill a woman for not loving him, and then to escape. The irony of this goal underlines the entire novel, and the reader waits to see whether he will succeed.
Fugue as a helpful tool
As if his own brain is trying to fight against him, George sometimes gets thrown into various fugue states where he is unable to execute judgments of any kind. He is perfectly perplexed, and while perplexed, he doesn't accomplish his goals. This sounds like a horrible thing, but since the reader knows that he is trying to commit a murder, the fugue states seem almost like a blessing. They prohibit him from executing his plan.
The dramatic irony of murder
When does Netta realize that George is secretly planning to kill her? When he is already drowning her. When does Peter realize that George's hatred has spread to him as well? When he sees the golf club hurling through the air to kill him. But the reader knew the whole time, since the first chapter of the book. This dramatic irony makes the whole novel into a black satire. The joke is that no one is acting appropriately, because George conceals his evil convincingly.
Netta's bad habit
Chances are that if Netta knew that George was intending her murder, she probably wouldn't be trying to manipulate him for his money. What could have been an unsavory habit turns into an ironic self-destruction. She knows she doesn't love George, and she can tell that he doesn't have all of his faculties, but instead of putting distance between them, she invites him closer, because she wants to take advantage of him.
The suicide
When George kills himself, that is ironic, because he has told the reader through narration that he intends to kill these people and escape to Maidenhead. Instead of escaping, or trying to escape, he does the opposite, adding himself to the death toll, confessing to the killings in a note to the police. His aversion to responsibility comes to a head, and he does this for strange reasons that leave the reader scratching their head. Is this his conscience?
