The Irony of Taste
As the fairy-tale starts, the narrator recognizes that human beings might differ widely in various aspects. However, it is satirical that he tends to think that it is plausible that the standard of both reasoning and taste among human creatures is the same. The reader’s understanding is that human beings are different and each individual has a unique taste and way of reasoning. The author contradicts the reasoning of the reader and this makes his assertions ironic. As the narrator writes:
"On a superficial view, we may seem to differ very widely from each other in our reasoning, and no less in our pleasures: but notwithstanding this difference, which I think to be rather apparent than real, it is probable that the standard both of reason and taste is the same in all human creatures."
The Irony of the Most Ignorant
The reader comprehends that an ignorant person is unknowledgeable or uneducated with no capacity to have any maxim of reasoning. However, it is ironic for the narrator to say that the maxims of reasoning settle among the most ignorant people. He writes:
"There is so a continued call for the exercise of reasoning faculty, and is so much strengthened by perpetual contention, that certain maxims of right reason seem to be tacitly settled among the most ignorant."
The Irony of madness
According to the narrator, all people have similar tastes and preferences when it comes to taste. He argues that if sugar is sweet, every person must perceive the same. However, the understanding of the reader is that some people do not consume sugar because to them it does not taste sweet. Additionally, some find other substances as tobacco and other abused drugs to be sweet. Ironically, the narrator calls such people as mad! Having different tastes of something to deviate from the norm does not qualify someone to be classified as mad. The narrator says, "We do not call a man of this kind wrong in his notions, but mad."
The Irony of the Unknown Fruits
The author ironically suggests that the taste of the unknown fruits is sweet and pleasant as that of tobacco. As much as there are people who find pleasure in smoking tobacco, they do not find it sweet. However, it indeed has a pleasant flavor, which makes them addicted to it. He writes: "The taste of unknown fruit tastes sweet and pleasant to those who are in constant use of it."
The Irony of Homer
It is beyond the expectation of the reader that the narrator can criticize other authors on the use of similitude in their literary work. As the story progress, the reader can see that the narrator as well has used similes in his literary work. There is no justification from the narrator why he concludes that the similes used by Homer and other authors are incorrect. This is ironic because it is like throwing stones to a glasshouse while the narrator as well lives in a glasshouse. He writes:
“And it is for a reason of this Kind that Homer and the oriental writers, though very fond of similitudes, and though they often strike such as are truly admirable, they seldom take care to have them exact; that is, they are taken with the general resemblance, they paint it strongly, and they take no notice of the difference which may be found between the things compared.”
