Dramatic irony

The reader or audience knows something the character does not, so the character's words and deeds take on a meaning that the character does not perceive.

In Demons

Why is it that all these desperate socialists and communists are at the same time incredible misers, hoarders, proprietors, and to such an extent that the more socialist, the farther they have gone, the stronger a proprietor they become...

Stepan describes, without knowing it, the man his son is going to become. The reader has already seen Pyotr demand money from his father and get involved in clandestine proclamations, and the irony lies in the fact that the father speaks of him without noticing.

Part One: The Father of the Demons, Stepan Trofimovich

After all, you are an intelligent man and, of course, you do not believe for yourself, but you understand very well that you need faith to brutalize the people. Truth is more honest than lies.

Part Two: The Waiting Town, Pyotr Stepanovich, to Governor Lembke

I propose not a filthy trick, but paradise, an earthly paradise, and there can be no other on earth.

Part Two: Shigalyov's System, Shigalyov