Identify and explain two examples of irony in the novel Walk Two Moons.

One example of irony in Walk Two Moons concerns Salamanca's perception of her father's relationship with Mrs. Cadaver. Mrs. Cadaver has helped her father find a home and a job in Euclid, Ohio. When Mr. Hiddle and Sal move there, Sal is resentful and uncomfortable because her father seems to have such a good rapport with Margaret Cadaver, and because he spends an inordinate amount of time in her company. Sal's unspoken suspicion is that her father and Margaret Cadaver are becoming romantically involved, when the exact opposite is true. Sal's father is drawn to Mrs. Cadaver because the woman was in the bus accident that killed his wife. Margaret Cadaver was sitting in the seat next to Sal's mother on the bus, and was with her when she died. The connection that Margaret provides Mr. Hiddle with his deceased wife is what draws him to spend time with her, which is an ironic contrast to what Sal dimly suspects is going on between the her father and his newfound friend.

Another example of irony in the story is the situation involving the "lunatic" who visits Phoeby's house. A nervous young man comes around asking for Phoeby's mother, and when her mother disappears, Phoeby's imagination gets the better of her. She begins to believe that her mother may have come to harm at the hands of the stranger she calls the "lunatic." In fact, the young man is Phoeby's mother's son from a previous relationship. Instead of being a sinister, threatening stranger, the "lunatic" ironically turns out to be Phoeby's own half-brother.