In "My Oedipus Complex" by Frank O'Connor, what is the dramatic irony in Larry's remarks about the cost of a baby? What is one additional example...

Dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows or understands something about the events that are unfolding that the characters do not.  This can often be tragic, such as in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet when the audience knows that Juliet is only asleep, but Romeo takes his own life because he believes that she is dead.  However, it can also be used for comedy, as it is in this story.  The narrator, although he is writing as an older man reflecting on his past experiences, speaks with a child's understanding of life and family.  When his mother says that she cannot afford a baby, he takes her literally, imagining that different babies come at different costs.  He thinks that his mother must be holding out for an expensive baby, saying, "The Geneys up the road had a baby, and everyone knew they couldn't afford seventeen and six.  It was probably a cheap baby, and Mother wanted something really good, but I felt she was too exclusive.  The Geneys' baby would have done us just fine."  Of course, the reader is expected to understand the true meaning behind his mother's words.

Another example of dramatic irony in this story is the narrator's unwillingness to share his mother with his father.  Larry has grown accustomed to getting all of his mother's attention while his father has been away at war, and does not understand why his mother even needs his father around.  Jealous that he is no longer allowed to lay in bed with his mother, Larry insists, “Mummy...I think it would be healthier for Daddy to sleep in his own bed.”  This is, again, supposed to be comical for the reader, who understands that this is the father's bed, and he has every right to sleep there beside his wife.