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I'm having a discussion with another writer: in the story, a person is describing someone else's father's disappearance and possible death. They're trying to express bitter resignation and uses the line "Just as well; either way, he's gone."
I'm not familiar with "just as well" being used to express bitter resignation; I've only ever seen it used in a positive way. Am I crazy? Can this phrase be used sarcastically?
In short: yes, the phrase "just as well" can be used sarcastically; most anything can, under the right circumstances.
At length: In this case, the usage would probably depend more on the precise tone the character is expressing. If they're particularly irate about it, they might use a stronger word like "lovely" or "wonderful" for maximum ironic effect. "Just as well" comes off, to me, as being a relatively neutral expression without much emotional charge, so if used sarcastically it will be much milder than a "that's just peachy" or equivalent -- to such an extent that it might not read as sarcastic at all, if the surrounding context isn't clear enough.
