Marquez’s use of irony emphasizes the commonness of deceit to show the sinful corruption of a religious society. The scene where Angela is taught “old wives’ tricks” to fake her virginity has irony because she has sinned and through these tricks she is attempting to preserve her honor, which creates a paradox of immoral lying to conserve lost honor. These methods of deception are to preserve her honor, but these lies only accompany her original sin rather than correct it. Victoria Guzman and Divina Flor lie, stating that they, like Santiago, are unaware of his upcoming death, which creates dramatic irony through his unawareness. Their actions show the willingness of town members to not prevent a murder, by lying. Situational irony is created
