Appearance and normalcy
It is a terrible tragedy, but because of racism and prejudice, Emma-Lou has a long list of obstacles that she must overcome in order to be treated normally. This is in large part due to her physical appearance which is markedly dark—darker even than her family or friends in the Black community. She feels automatically frustrated by life in school and this adds unseen emotional and mental obstacles to her life that other people do not see, and there is a question about whether Emma-Lou sees what is happening and how she understands it, so the issue of "fitting in" is actually a source of dramatic irony as her frustration soars.
The wrong place
As if to comment on fate, Emma-Lou ends up not just in a white school but in an overwhelmingly homogenous school with primarily upper class white children who expect that Emma-Lou has the same advantages and privileges that they have, but they are wrong. Emma-Lou experiences this as if she were "misplaced," but of course that language is exactly the wrong idea. Emma-Lou belongs anywhere because she is a human and the earth is her habitat. The feeling of extreme isolation is drama raised by the irony of Emma not quite understanding the point of view of the majority around her.
The potions and scrubs
Not only is Emma-Lou's skin dark, but in a sad, poignant irony, she is also made to feel like a freak by her own parents who desperately try anything and everything to light up her skin. The irony is primarily the rejection and self-esteem lessons that Emma-Lou's mother teaches her, and this is especially ironic given the fact that the reader expects Emma-Lou's family to be her loving support center who can provide for her, but the novelist clearly has something else in mind. The potions and scrubs are a symbolic irony pointing to the fact that even the parents have fallen for these ethnic prejudices.
Registration Day
When Emma-Lou goes back to school, the classic motif of "re-inventing" one's self after summer break is applied to Emma-Lou, but with painful irony. The bitter situation is that Emma-Lou has been mistreated, and that focuses her attention on herself, her own popularity, her emotions, and so on. When she makes friends with Hazel Mason, Hazel is immediately charmed by her, and the friendship seems to be heading toward some cathartic understanding, but Emma-Lou betrays her new friend in complicated attempt to become more popular. She also betrays her own interests by buying into the drama at school and by changing herself to become more critical and selfish.
The narrow lane
This novel is a cultural touchstone for this striking irony. The novel gives a subtle and insightful look into Emma-Lou's life, but then when Emma-Lou hits the finish line so to speak, trying to find work with her degree, having already attained impressive accomplishments, she learns very quickly that there is actually a very limited lane for her to follow. Other girls do not have the same obstacles, and men have almost no obstacles at all, but Emma-Lou is rejected except for jobs and roles where people are already expecting her by prejudice. She is culturally bound to meet the expectations of her community, but those expectations are motivated by a history of racism.
