How are point of view and irony related in the story "The Interlopers"?

The story is told from a third-person omniscient point-of-view. From this vantage point, the author is able to use dramatic and situational irony to underline one of the main themes of his story: generational feuds often pose little substantial benefit for the parties involved.

As an omniscient narrator, the author is able to skilfully guide the plot of the story without revealing the surprise ending until the stunning last word: "wolves." Saki uses his third-person...

The story is told from a third-person omniscient point-of-view. From this vantage point, the author is able to use dramatic and situational irony to underline one of the main themes of his story: generational feuds often pose little substantial benefit for the parties involved.

As an omniscient narrator, the author is able to skilfully guide the plot of the story without revealing the surprise ending until the stunning last word: "wolves." Saki uses his third-person viewpoint to reveal only specific details at each juncture of the story.

It is not until we come to the last word that we recognize Saki's brilliance: the situational irony contained in the word "wolves" underlines the point that generational feuds are more prone to ending badly than positively. Instead of being saved by members of the von Gradwitz family (which Ulrich expects, from seeing the figures in the distance), the word "wolves" indicates that both men will likely die savage deaths side by side. Situational irony is the discrepancy between what is expected to occur and what occurs instead.

Ulrich informs Georg that he sees men in the distance. When Georg asks how many of them there are, Ulrich answers that he sees nine or ten men. Upon hearing this, Georg exclaims that they are probably Ulrich's men, as he only brought seven men out with him. As the figures draw nearer however, Ulrich is reduced to laughing "the idiotic chattering laugh of a man unstrung with hideous fear." The last word "wolves" perfectly explains Ulrich's fear, and we are left marveling at Saki's skill in using the third-person point of view to underline the irony of Ulrich and Georg's situation.