The Irony of Granny Absconding Hospital
Backman elucidates, “She’s (Granny) been in the hospital for two weeks now, but absconds almost every day and picks up Elsa, and they have ice cream or go to the flat when Mum isn’t home and make a soapsud slide on the landing. Or break into zoos.” Granny’s acts of repeated escapes are ironic because her hospitalization surmises that she is unwell. Although she is ailing she uses the escape to relish her remaining lifetime with Elsa. Sickness does not daunt her desire to enjoy her remnant days.
The Irony of Granny Ordering Beer
Backman observes, “Granny is sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to the door, talking on the phone. She doesn’t see her, and Elsa realizes Granny is talking to her lawyer, because she is instructing him about what sort of bear she wants the next time he comes to hospital. Elsa knows that the layer smuggles in the beer in large encyclopaedias.” Since granny is ailing, she would not be expected to imperil her health further by consuming beers. Her ironic request to the layer depicts her Death Instinct. Additionally, the lawyer’s ironic act of delivering beers to her confirms how lawyers can conspire with their clients to engage in erroneous deeds.
