The Eyes Have It

Dramatic irony means that a character in the story and the audience of that story understand a situation quite differently. In “The Eyes Have It,” the narrator truly believes he has stumbled upon indisputable evidence of extraterrestrial life, though it is clear to readers that he has simply grossly misinterpreted the figurative language of one particular book. Dick’s use of irony here not only heightens the pervasive humor of the story, but it also further emphasizes the inherent difficulties of establishing a uniform understanding of reality. This is one of Dick’s perpetual themes.

Readers of “The Eyes Have It” intuit that what the narrator/the reader reads is not to be taken literally, and the irony lies in the extremes of his misreading. Even though this story is quite short, dramatic irony also propels the reader forward to see how the narrator will react to this “knowledge.”

“The Eyes Have It” uses foreshadowing in a subtle manner. With a simple tense change from the first to the second sentence, Dick indicates that the narrator is already reflecting on the events that make up the brunt of the story.