A Life in the Day of Gerard
Van Booy plays on the theme of "a day in the life" of his main character in this story. While this story does concern a single day in the life of Gerard, it's also so full of retrospection and contemplation that it essentially recounts the story of his life in the course of the day. In that sense, readers watch as Gerard relives his whole life in a single day: "a life in the day" of Gerard.
Irony of Reconnection
When Gerard reunites with Laurel after eight years, one might assume that there would be a rush of emotion or a surge of love. On the contrary, Gerard notes the complete opposite, saying that "quite simply a door opens to a room that has never gone away."
Irony of Snow
Snow is falling and covering the ground, but even though its mass is adding to the landscape rather than subtracting from it, its function is negative, appearing to erase specifics from the environment and replacing them with a tabula rasa. The snowstorm is a positive agent of subtraction, which is inherently ironic.
Irony of Heels
Laurel acts as a foil to Issy, having a steady and loving temperament instead of a wild and self-serving one. Ironically, though, when Gerard sees her in the store for the first time in eight years, she is wearing the same kind of heels Issy used to wear, perhaps indicating a more cynical outlook resulting from her husband's desertion.
Irony of Laurel's Understanding
Eight years ago, Gerald was cheating on Laurel with Issy when Issy became pregnant with Lucy. He told Laurel about the pregnancy, and she said she understood before breaking off their relationship via email. Clearly, she was understandably upset with Gerald, but he doesn't seem to have understood that.
In the present, though, she tells Gerald that he was kind to her. He responds with, "Was I? I don't feel as if I was." She says, "You were, despite everything." She actually goes understand Gerald's position, which is almost unbelievably considerate of her, and certainly counterintuitive.
