Irony in the Grotesque Literature

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Horror, violence, mystery, surrealism: terms associated with human emotions which are difficult to comprehend in feeling. It is the mere experience of these which generate emotions that drive us away from; yet, they often trigger a part within us that becomes attracted to them. Perhaps, as distorted as it may sound, this basic concept gives way to a unique style in literature: the grotesque. Grotesque is a genre in literature, and generally in art, characterized by violent, freakish, and horrific scenes which, after all, maybe distorted. However, what sets the grotesque apart from the rest of horror literature is its main purpose. While horror is meant to scare the reader with gruesome/violent imagery, the grotesque accomplishes this by confusing the reader; usually, towards the end of the story, and with the use of irony.  It is irony which ends the literary grotesque effectively; making the reader have to answer his own questions regarding the symbols in the story, or even the purpose and the meaning of the story overall.

Edgar Allen Poe is mostly known for his contributions to the horror/grotesque literature. In one of his works, The Tell-Tale Heart, the Narrator sets off to kill the old man he lives with, according to him, due to his evil eye. Perhaps, what makes this story so disturbing is the Narrator’s unbalanced state of mind, which he claims he is not a madman, and the description of how he sets forth to execute the murder. He describes, “I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all, I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs” (par. 12). The ironic twist to this story comes precisely at the end. In the beginning, the Narrator takes pride in the extreme precautions he takes in order for his plan to go about smoothly (par. 8). However, at the very end of the story, all his efforts go in vain as he turns himself in to the police, “…dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! –here, here! –it is the beating of his hideous heart!” (par. 18). There are actually two similar ironies present in the story which interrelate with each other. The purpose of killing the old man is to get rid of his evil eye and stop the disturbing beating of his heart. Yet, as he is questioned by the police officers, the beating of the old man’s heart (now in his head) comes back to haunt him, forcing him to confess the crime. This story is very similar to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, during the scene where the ghost of Banquo, whom Macbeth just ordered to kill, is haunting him at the feast (Act III, Sc. iv).

Another example of irony in the grotesque is Joyce Carol Oates’ Poor Bibi. This type of grotesque is characterized by leaving out important details, such as who/what Bibi is; which causes in the reader major confusion at the end of the story. Due to the lack of details about Bibi, we are led to accept Bibi as a symbolical character which most likely represents, based on the context of the story, the marriage between the Narrator and her husband. The reader is also faced with a big moral dilemma: euthanasia. Such dilemma introduces us to two main ironies which, once again, are interrelated. In the Narrator’s own words, “I, who’d love Bibi so, was forced to become his executioner, in the interest of mercy” (218). The Narrator, at first, intended for Bibi to die a quick, merciful death. But due to the rejection of the doctor, she does it herself in the most gruesome, hence, grotesque of ways, “Fifty feet behind the pet hospital was a deep drainage ditch filled with brackish, ill-smelling water, in which there floated, like shards of dreams, threads of detergent scum… for Bibi would not die for the longest time—grunting, cursing, ugly veins standing out in his forehead as he [husband] held the thrashing, squirming, frantic creature beneath the surface of the ditch water…” (217-218). In this case, the main grotesque act led to the main irony in the story.

In A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, irony in the grotesque leads the reader into a very drastic situation faced by the main characters in the story. In contrast with the irony of Poor Bibi (led by the grotesque moment),  the irony of O’Connor’s story leads into the most grotesque, likewise brutal, of moments. Such a grotesque moment, characterized by evil itself, could not be described better by none other than Joyce Carol Oates in her essay Reflections of the Grotesque as, “…the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo—that evil is not always repellant but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims… but active accomplices”. It results ironic that the Grandmother, who did not want to go to Florida not only because she instead wanted to head to Tennessee, but also because of the danger of the Misfit, is the one person who gets her and her family killed by the Misfit himself. Everything for which she happens to be cautious about ends up happening anyway and thanks to her: “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (117). But perhaps another grotesque element out of this story is the Grandmother’s freakishness which, after all, ends up freaking the Misfit out himself and killing her.

Grotesque literature without distortion and irony would just simply be a horror genre. The element of grotesque that makes it so unique is after all, irony. While distortion and gruesome imagery might frighten the reader, irony makes him feel more attracted to the story, as gruesome and distorted as it may be. And this in itself is ironic: that one would feel attracted to gruesome and horrific things which generate fear.  Despite the horrific and ironic elements of the grotesque, these types of stories usually send messages which might be symbolic and stand for something else, or they usually contain an overall message, suggesting a moral or social dilemma.