O'Connor

"...but I was being attached to the party to act as a brake on Father.  As a brake I had never achieved anything, but Mother still had great faith in me."  (p. 344)

Throughout "The Drunkard," the author uses an image of brakes.  For example, in the excerpt above, Larry describes his presence at the funeral as "brakes" on his Father.  Larry states that he had never actually stopped his father from drinking before, but his mother still believed he would.  It was almost as if she knew what was going to happen.  This metaphor is ironically played out.  To prevent his father from drinking, Larry (as a young child) finds himself drunk, distracting his father from his alcohol addiction.  Larry has no intention of becoming drunk or stopping his father from drinking.  This irony adds an element of humor to the story even though alcoholism is a completely serious issue.  At the end of the story, Larry's mother credits her young child for saving her husband by protecting him from alcohol.  I thought it was humorous that she did not even care about her son getting drunk; she was only worried about his father.    

Munro

"He always tells the children the story of how I went after him by sitting by the mailbox every day, and naturally I laugh and let him, because I like for people to think what pleases them and makes them happy." (p. 146)

This story ends with many different types of irony.  In the quote above is an example of dramatic irony.  Dramatic irony takes place when there is a discrepancy between the reader's understanding of a scene and a character's understanding of a scene, usually because the reader has knowledge the character does not.  In this short story, we are aware of the circumstances under which Edie met her husband.  She had been waiting and waiting for a letter in the mail to arrive from a her "dream man" - a war hero who flew planes for money.  Although this man was supposively engaged, Edie still believed what he had told her was true; therefore, Edie waits everyday by the mailbox in order to see what the mail woud bring that day.  In the eyes of Carmichael, Edie was waiting at the mailbox each day in order to see him.  According to the story, Edie never told Carmichael the real reason why she went to that mailbox.  She wanted him to believe what he thought to be true.  This irony makes the relationship even more meaningful.  Even though things may not work out perfectly, there is always another opportunity waiting around the corner.  Another type of irony in this story in situational irony.  Situational irony takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what really does happen.  Personally, I expected Chris to fly back in the plane, and swoop Edie into his arms; however, this is not the case.  Instead, Edie meets her husband while waiting on the "love of her life."