consideration for the rest of the he had them boiled with a little seaweed on the ship’s health Noah never took into account that the side” (14). plovers’ feathers naturally turned white every winter, and decides to bring the species into extinction for the sake of the other animals’ health, or rather his own hunger a tenderly considerate act. The woodworm continues to criticize – eating animals of the Ark. Shortly after the family council that Noah’s Noah’s sons “proposed at if you had the elephant and hippopotamus, you could get by without the were behemoth…There complaints about getting behemoth for dinner every night and so merely for a change of diet – – some other species (14). The understatement shown downplays the significance was sacrificed” of the sacrifice of another animal species as well as the The woodworm behemoth’s extinction. describes another extinct animal, the unicorn, as “strong, honest, fearless, impeccably groomed and a mariner who never knew a the noble unicorn saves moment’s queasiness” (16). When from falling into the God-damned seas, he for his Ham’s wife received “fine thanks … valour” and was one (16). This description of the noble “casseroled Embarkation Sunday” unicorn’s treatment uses overstatement, because the gratitude the unicorn receives seems more of a punishment to the reader. As evidenced in these examples, Barnes uses verbal irony to satirize hero status in the Ark story. Noah’s The use of verbal irony continues throughout the novel, scattered through the chapters. In the third chapter The Wars of Religion overstatement is used to prosecute the woodworms, – – referred to as the a Latin term for bug or insect. The court case begins with the “bestioles” (63) – the of Mamirolle in the diocese of Besancon des habitans” “Petition (62), where “inhabitants … most pressingly and urgently petition the court to relieve and disburden [them] of the felonious intervention which have brought upon [them] In this quotation, the … God’s wrath” (62). inhabitants label the eating of the as woodworm’s Bishop’s throne “felonious intervention” (62)
consideration for the rest of the ship’s health he had them boiled with a little seaweed on the side” (14). Noah never took into account that the plovers’ feathers naturally turned white every winter, and decides to bring the species into extinction for the sake of the other animals’ health, or rather his own hunger – a tenderly considerate act. The woodworm continues to criticize Noah’s eating animals of the Ark. Shortly after Noah’s sons “proposed at the family council that if you had the elephant and hippopotamus, you could get by without the behemoth…There were complaints about getting behemoth for dinner every night and so – merely for a change of diet – some other species was sacrificed” (14). The understatement shown downplays the significance of the sacrifice of another animal species as well as the behemoth’s extinction. The woodworm describes another extinct animal, the unicorn, as “strong, honest, fearless, impeccably groomed and a mariner who never knew a moment’s queasiness” (16). When the noble unicorn saves Ham’s wife from falling into the God-damned seas, he received “fine thanks … for his valour” and was “casseroled one Embarkation Sunday” (16). This description of the noble unicorn’s treatment uses overstatement, because the gratitude the unicorn receives seems more of a punishment to the reader. As evidenced in these examples, Barnes uses verbal irony to satirize Noah’s hero status in the Ark story. The use of verbal irony continues throughout the novel, scattered through the chapters. In the third chapter – The Wars of Religion – overstatement is used to prosecute the woodworms, referred to as the “bestioles” (63) – a Latin term for bug or insect. The court case begins with the “Petition des habitans” (62), where the “inhabitants of Mamirolle in the diocese of Besancon … most pressingly and urgently petition the court to relieve and disburden [them] of the felonious intervention … which have brought upon [them] God’s wrath” (62). In this quotation, the inhabitants label the woodworm’s eating of the Bishop’s throne as “felonious intervention” (62)