An element of fiction that I caught onto in “The Tenth of January” was the presence of irony. As the story is following the life of Asenath, we pity her. She is, by social standards, ugly due to her physical presence and Asenath ponders her existence. She struggles with her love for Dick and torment from other girls. The piece of irony I find the most interesting is the prediction of her death. On just a normal day she wakes up and feels a calm, peaceful presence on her, something that she usually does not wake to. I find it so interesting to read this line “There was a future to be settled, but she would not trouble herself about that just now” (pg. 13). The irony behind this day is this day is the day she is finally put to rest of all hate, pity and shallowness. It’s so interesting that such a character can wake up and “feel” something about the day and as the plot and climax rises, we see she in fact “feeling” the sense of peace as she is swallowed by the fire. What I find so interesting is that this story mirrors out everyday lives as well. We wake up starting the day, doing our usual routine, but when something interrupts that routine we have to track our steps back thinking, “if I didn’t take those extra 10 minutes to make breakfast I might have avoided this situation” or to more dramatic instances like Asenath, we wish we could express our love for someone, but it takes an extra step in our day and dignity to do so. All it takes are actions to make this world and our country work and I believe that is also what Phelps is trying to convey as well, is that the small things we do with people could potentially alter the course of their path.
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