Question

What does the irony in these excerpts from “In Another Country” by Ernest Hemingway convey? The doctor came up to the machine where I was sitting and said: "What did you like best to do before the war? Did you practice a sport?" I said: "Yes, football." "Good," he said. "You will be able to play football again better than ever." My knee did not bend and the leg dropped straight from the knee to the ankle without a calf, and the machine was to bend the knee and make it move as riding a tricycle. . . . In the next machine was a major who had a little hand like a baby's. He winked at me when the doctor examined his hand, which was between two leather straps that bounced up and down and flapped the stiff fingers, and said: "And will I too play football, captain-doctor?" He had been a very great fencer, and before the war the greatest fencer in Italy.

Answer 1

The answer would be : The war is ruthless and took away the things most important to the identity and happiness of both men. 

Hope this helps !

Photon

Answer 2

Irony is a literary device in which the actions and the dialogues between the characters reflect a situation that is completely opposite to what happens in reality. In this excerpt, this literary device conveys the idea of how ironic or non-sense the lives of the wounded soldiers turn out to be after war because each of them lost the part of their body they used to perform the actions or tasks in which they were good. For example, one soldier was a good fencer, but his hand was hurt.