Post #3 - Paradox

Paradox is a sentence or statement that contradicts itself, but can still be interpreted to be true.  In literature, it can be used to provide insight towards an uncommon belief or idea.  It can also be used to analyze a text and discover its reason for being placed there.  In literature there are two types of paradox, particular and general.  Particular paradoxes are short, concise statements that usually involve satire. For instance, the line from 1984, "War is Peace.  Freedom is slavery.  Ignorance is strength.", is an example of particular paradox.  In that line all  three statements seem to contradict themselves, but at the same time invoke a certain wonder as to what each may mean at a deeper level of thought.  General paradox is more complex in both the length of its statement and in the idea actually being discussed.  An example of general paradox can be found in a quote from G.K. Chesterton, an author from the turn of the twentieth century: "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered".  While the statement may appear to contradict itself, a deeper look at the statement proves that in the author's opinion, the only difference between an adventure and an inconvenience is your own perspective.