Irony In The Story “The Eighty-Yard Run” Essay

Mr. Christian Darling, a well-respected high school athlete and handsome man, had an interesting – rather ironic – change in his life from the beginning of the story to the end. In The Eighty-Yard Run, a story by Irwin Shaw, the focus is on Mr. Christian Darling and his high school sweetheart, Louise. In high school, they were always together, and Louise always bought Christian Darling many nice gifts. As time passed and high school ended, Christian and Louise got married and moved to New York City. In New York City, both of them worked for Louise’s dad as managers of a New York office. They were very wealthy and happy. However, this did not last very long, with Louise’s father killing himself when the profits turned into debts. After this, Christian started doing nothing, sitting at home day after day drinking himself to death, complaining about how horrible life was. On the other hand, Louise got a job with a woman’s fashion magazine where she quickly rose through the ranks. She became very sophisticated, and she and her husband quickly became two very different people. Christian started being the one always trying to please Louise – as opposed to before where she tried to please him – and eventually gave up. As fate would have it, Christian Darling ended up working for. Rosenberg. This is ironic because Mr. Rosenberg wants Christian to tour colleges as a tour representative because of his â€Å"broad shoulders and well-kept waist †¦his carefully brushed hair and his honest, wrinkleless face.† as well as the fact that he was favorably known. This is ironic because his life was nothing like his appearance. He wasn’t a loyal boyfriend, and ended up becoming a boozed-out loser. Not the type of person a company wants to portray as the ideal college student. This is ironic because although his outer appearance is nice, his actual life has not been that way at all. From him not being loyal to his wife to his wife being bored with him and ignoring him, he has not had an ideal life. The last ironic bit here is that the football player who he envied so much got his neck broken playing professional football.