ain full of fearful adults watches them. The adults fearfully watch the boys but are too embarrassed to say anything to them. One woman who was extremely concerned about the boys safety stood and watched too afraid to say anything. She finally musters up the courage to say something to them. When they respond her warning of death and threat to call the conductor with laughter, the woman blush(es) (8) and is too afraid of being embarrassed by the boys to follow through with her threat. Another man who becomes angry by watching them is to citizenly (8) to approach the boys. He instead walks to the back of the car and pulls the emergency cord. It is this pull that results in Samuels death. The man meant to stop the boys from endangering themselves, but pulling the cord caused the train to come to an abrupt stop. Samuel, who at the times wasnt holding onto anything, is thrown forward and falls headfirst to be crushed and killed between the cars (9). The major irony lies in the fact that the adults were so afraid of embarrassment (4) that no one took authority over the young kids. The adults could have prevented this tragedy, but in order to preserve their dignity on the subway, no one takes a strong stand against the children. Paley uses irony to communicate the point that peoples are often so obsessed with image that they ignore important aspects of adulthood, such as responsibility. Her use of irony, however, puts much of the blame on the adults without outwardly saying it. Through irony, Paley can indirectly make judgements on society without being offensive. She also adds to the tragedy of Samuels death by the mere fact that it could have been avoided. Paley uses irony throughout her short story to point out moral issues and create a significantly tragic drama in just a few pages. Irony is also a successful tool for discussing controversial issues without being offensive in poetry. Jimmy Santiago Baca is extremely effective in his poem ...
