Bonehead (Irony)

" 'I think I'm too old for fun,' said Zoe" -pg 358

I could probably talk about this girl's problems for hours. She is bizarre. For the sake of brevity, I will focus on her most obvious characteristic: sarcasm/irony. I put these two together because they ironic comments and jokes that she makes, but she makes them in such a way and with such a tone that they are much more sarcastic than they are ironic.

I'm no shrink, but my unofficial diagnostic of Zoe is that she is that she feels the need to make all sorts of bizarre jokes be so eccentric to cover up some sort of awkwardness or confusion that she can't get rid of. She makes jokes about everything, whether it be serious, stupid, silly, or all of the above. She refuses to take herself or anyone seriously. This is what makes her so entertaining, but also so frustrating. I can't help but love her, because she is hilarious, but at the same time I just want her to take off the bonehead and be normal for a while.

The men that have been her life are the best example of this. True, the men weren't necessarily good men that she pushed away, but she certainly didn't take any of her relationships seriously. She was constantly brushing things off, such as pregnancies and ants, rather than talking about them or pursuing them seriously. I think with Earl on the balcony, she comes to a peak of weirdness. She actually performs a physical act of what she usual does with words- pushing others away.

In all of these ways, her irony becomes biting sarcasm and gives real meaning to her bonehead costume.