Narrator
The narrator often employs an ironic tone as she comments on white Europeans' behavior and beliefs. When Sissie boards the plane to Germany, the flight attendant tells her that her friends are in the back when in reality Sissie does not know them and the attendant only thinks she does because she is Black and they are Black. The narrator says ironically, "Naturally, she was only giving Sissie a piece of disinterested advice to make her feel at ease enough to enjoy her flight" (10).
Missionaries
The narrator uses an ironic tone as well as creates situational irony with these lines: "The patient, long-suffering / Missionaries could not get as far / As / Calling up to the pulpit / A man and his wife who / Fight in the night / and / Whip them / Before the / Whole congregation of the / SAVED" (25). The irony is in the Christians, who should be peaceable and loving, desiring to whip Africans for inconsequential reasons.
Germans
The narrator uses an ironic tone to call attention to the cruel absurdity of the Germans' deciding that Aryans are the highest race. Talking specifically about Marija here, she writes, "A daughter of mankind's / Self-appointed most royal line, / The House of Aryan" (48), which is ironic since appointing oneself is not exactly a legitimate claim to authority, truth, or rightness.
Kunle
Aidoo gives us situational irony with the death of Kunle. As a chauffeur and lover of cars in Europe, it was not at all expected that he would die in a fiery car crash back home. Yet the irony is a critique of Kunle and Africans like him, who are so obsessed with themselves and status and material goods that they cannot make good choices.
