Haircut: Irony

Part I of Essay
The tone of the short story "Haircut" is dramatic irony, for the remarks of the first-person narrator, Whitey the small town barber, have the opposite effect from what he intends. Whitey does not understand the implications of his stories when he describes Jim as a joker o ....

Part II of Essay
.... he knew well that a left-handed monkey wrench did not exist. He also took pleasure in humiliating Julie Gregg for being interested in Doc Stair and even went so far as to imitate Stair's voice on the phone and set up a phony meeting with Julie then chased her down the street when she showed up. The fact that Whitey narrates these stories in first person doesn't soften Jim's awful practical jokes but shows the barber's equally insensitive ignorance making Jim's character all the more plausible. Most citizens at the barbershop and pool hall ....