I Sell My House By Alan Wood Summary

In the excerpt from “I sell my house” by Alan Wood, the author conveys a central idea that segregation is often an unavoidable function in life, whether one is conscious of it or not. In text one it is seen that people do seem to prefer living among others who resemble them. Alan Wood talks about discrimination between Gentiles and Jews, portrayed in a non violent manner. The literary device is shown best through his use of situational irony. In Alan Wood’s excerpt from “I sell my house”, he explains the segregation affecting Jews and the discrimination between Gentiles and Jews. For example, ”Of the thirty-two children invited, thirty were Jewish,” he said. “Somehow that didn’t seem a natural environment in which to raise my children” (Wood 40). What Wood means is, even though this Gentile was perfectly happy living …show more content…
This sentence shows a literary device of situational irony, it proves the central idea because even though he was contently living in a neighborhood with Jews, he was still wary of the circumstances for his family. For instance, “I had a bid in hand, but was afraid that if I described the community the Wilsons would fly away.” (Wood 40). In other words, the writer was scared that if he told the Wilsons the neighborhood was mainly Jews, the Wilsons would take back their offer. This sentence shows the literary device of situational irony, it proves the central idea because segregation towards Jews was unavoidable during these circumstances. For example, “They saw this house for sale and- to make a long story short- they bought it on the spot. It was my neighbor that stressed the fact that it was located in the most restricted Gentile town on Long Island” (Wood 42). This shows that Wood contemplated on