The Significance of Irony in Brighton Rock

Authors Avatar

Navneet Kokri

The Significance of Irony in Brighton Rock

Graham Greene uses many from of irony in Brighton. As can be expected there are many examples of dramatic irony he uses to induce the reader. But in addition to this many of the themes and relationships in the novel are very ironic in their nature.

A clear example of this can be found in the character of the novel’s protagonist: Pinkie. Pinkie is the leader of a small time Brighton mob. We expect him to be a tough, experienced, hardened criminal – sure of himself and his ability to lead. But what we find is an innocent, insecure ‘boy’ of 17. He, for instance, does not drink - ‘You know I never touch a drink’ and is clearly sexually immature – in the incident involving Sylvia he is unable to go through with the act of sex. Rose’s character is also ironic at times. We have a picture of a very naïve, inexperienced girl. It is therefore ironic when she tells Pinkie that she has known he was a murderer all along.

Join now!

Another irony is found in Pinkie’s relationship with Rose. At first it seems strange that two characters that are fundamentally different to one another are drawn to one another. One is the evil leader of a gang, while the other is a young innocent girl with little experience of the world. But ironically we find out throughout the novel that they are in fact very similar. They are, for instance, sexually immature – a fact both Rose and Pinkie admit; they also have similar ideology about religion; have grown up in a similar area and have little experience of ...

This is a preview of the whole essay