John as Sensitive (Dramatic Irony)
"He was so nice, and kind and...sensitive." (143)
After John purposefully comes across as sensitive to woo the group of ladies, they think of him as sensitive. From our unrestricted viewpoint, we recognise that much of this is an act, and John intends to come across as sensitive for his own insensitive motives.
Residential Schools (Verbal Irony and Dramatic Irony)
Taylor writes at the beginning of the text of the residential schools: "The local on-Reserve school had taught her to read and speak English. But it could only take kids so far, which is why the Canadian government had built these other schools where their welfare would be better maintained than on a Reserve" (5). His verbal irony is a bit subtle, as is the dramatic irony if a person does not know how bad the residential schools were, but it should still be clear that there's no way it would be better for Native children's welfare to go elsewhere. These schools were terrible, to say the least—they take children from their families and communities, force Christianity upon them, sometimes beat and abuse them, and try to stamp out their indigenous culture and identity. Sam Aandeg is the best exemplar of how horrific these places are.
John's Identity (Dramatic Irony)
The novel is filled with dramatic irony, as the reader knows fairly early on who John is but the main characters do not. At some point Wayne and Virgil know, but Maggie does not, which continues the dramatic irony in a way that makes us pity her ignorance but also laugh at how absurdly John is behaving. Taylor's use of dramatic irony is carried out in a relatively gentle, humorous way though, and his characters do not egregiously suffer from what they do not know.
Freaks and Desperate Types (Verbal Irony)
John can't help himself from teasing Virgil when he firsts meets him, saying out at the rocks that he ought to be careful because he "never [knows] what freaks and desperate types you might run into" (80). Of course, John is both a freak and a desperate type, and Virgil is going to be very concerned about his presence in his community very soon.
