A History of the World in Six Glasses Literary Elements

Non-fiction

The action described in the book began 800 years ago and it lasted until present day.

The action is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.

The tone and mood are neutral.

The protagonists are the normal people who belong to the middle class and the antagonists are the ruling class.

The major conflict is between the desire to advance and the desire to remain in a comfortable place.

The climax in this book is reached when the narrator mentions the point in history when wine was beginning to be consumed on a large scale. This puts in motion a chain of events that gave birth to modern society as it is known today.

The birth of modern society is linked with the invention of beer. This foreshadows the later connection which will be drawn between the modern and civilized society and the invention of various alcoholic beverages.

The narrator describes wine as a drink which many believed will not catch on and will eventually disappear. This is however an understatement as nowadays it is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks all over the world.

The main allusion in the book is the idea that the lack of rum on the American continent was what started the Independence War.

One of the most important images in the book is linked with the invention of tea. The beverage appeared in China and was linked with the wealthy who also created elaborate ceremonies linked with the drink in question. As such, the tea is used here to create an image of civility and sophistication.

One of the most paradoxical ideas presented in the book is the idea that even though through history the population was largely religious and the religious leaders were against excessive use of alcohol, these beverages still flourished and became extremely popular.

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Beer is used in the book as a general term to make reference to the idea of community.

We have a personification in the sentence "those magic liquids pulled everyone together".