Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
France in the 1920s.
Narrator and Point of View
The text has a third-person narrator, which focuses on particular characters at different points in the novel.
Tone and Mood
The tone of the mood is often joyful but has some pessimistic sections.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the text is Banjo, and there are a number of antagonists, including the police and the banjo thieves.
Major Conflict
The main conflict of the novel is the attempt of the seamen to make a living and cope with discrimination.
Climax
The climax of the text is when we see Banjo again and he is a changed person.
Foreshadowing
The fate of the men is foreshadowed by the many troubles they have finding work.
Understatement
Banjo perhaps understates the racism he experiences, whereas Ray thinks about it a lot.
Allusions
This novel alludes to the experiences of black Americans in the 1920s, and especially the racism experienced in the South.
Imagery
McKay uses imagery to describe the banjo:
"The sharp, noisy notes of the banjo belong to the American Negro's loud music of life—an affirmation of his hardy existence in the midst of the biggest, the most tumultuous civilization of modern life.”
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
The opinions of Banjo and Ray are paralleled and contrasted in this text. Whereas Banjo takes more of a lighthearted approach to racial issues, Ray considers such social issues deeply.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
McKay personified a building in the following passage: "The whole life of it that milled around the ponderous, somber building of the Mairie."
