An American Childhood Literary Elements

Memoir

Pittsburgh, during the time of Annie's childhood, between the end of World War Two and the start of the Cold War

Annie is the narrator and the book is written from her point of view.

Optimistic and hopeful; rebellious as the book continues and Annie becomes a teen.

There is no specific antagonist identified in the book, but like all teen protagonists, Annie as the protagonist finds the rules of the church, school and her parents confining and largely antagonistic.

The major conflict in the memoir is between Annie and the figures of authority in her life as she becomes an older teen and begins to rebel against what she finds confining rules and expectations.

Annie gets into quite a lot of trouble during her senior year in high school but nevertheless manages to get accepted into Hollins College in Virginia, leaving home for the first time.

Annie's growing awareness of the world around her and her great need to explore it foreshadows the more rebellious years of her life when she does not want to be controlled or confined by her church, her school or her parents.

Annie's rebelliousness is a surprise to her parents. This understates their feelings because it must have been an enormous shock to them to see their previously studious and well mannered daughter get kicked out of school for smoking, and crash a car in a drag race.

Anne alludes to the palpable fear in the air during the early years of the Cold War and the threat that was perceived by everyone, not just by the government. This is demonstrated by her referencing the underground nuclear shelter that she believed comfortable enough to live in for a while in the case of a nuclear attack.

The descriptions of the nuclear shelter creates the image of not only a physical shelter but also of a mental one; by constructing something that would keep them safe the citizens of Pittsburgh were able to rest a little easier about the impending nuclear threat from the Communist countries of Europe, and Cuba. The imagery also enables the reader not only to imaging what the shelter itself actually looked like but also to imagine the heightened feelings of fear and panic that was spreading.

Annie's family, like most others in their area, selected where they live specifically because it is predominantly Presbyterian and middle class, and therefore they would be able to socialize with the same group of people and people whom they feel to be the same as them. Annie hates to feel penned in by having to see the same people at every activity that she does and so what makes somewhere comfortable for her parents has the opposite affect on Annie.

There is a parallel between Annie becoming a young woman and her growing rebelliousness against the rules she has followed all her life growing up.

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