In the short story, “like the sun,” by r. k. narayan, the central character, sekhar, decides to be completely honest in all things, even if it hurts other people’s feelings. on this same day, his boss, who is a terrible musician, asks sekhar to listen to him perform and evaluate his talent. because he has decided to be honest, sekhar must tell his boss the truth.
which literary device is the author using?

irony
symbolism
hyperbole
paradox

^Wrong. It's irony.

The answer to your question would be that the literary device used by R. K Narayan in this passage of "Like the Sun" is irony.

Irony is a literary device in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning differs from the actual meaning of the words. In addition to this, it may also refer to a situation that ends up in quite different way than what is generally expected. In this case, Sekhar decides to be honest with everyone but it is likely that he didn't consider that this possibility would also include his boss.