Genre
Young Adult Novel
Setting and Context
The book is set in Percy Academy, featuring the love story between Elisha and Jeremiah.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative.
Tone and Mood
Quixotic, Amusing, intriguing,
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Ellie.
Major Conflict
The relationship between Ellie and Jeremiah faces a hurdle because Ellie is a Jewish girl and Jeremiah is a black American. Therefore, cultural conflict is at play because Ellie's parents are not like to entertain the relationship.
Climax
The climax is when Jeremiah dies in a road accident while going to meet Ellie’s parents. Consequently, the interracial marriage between Ellie and Jeremiah was never meant to be.
Foreshadowing
Jeremiah’s ecstasy foreshadowed his unfortunate death.
Understatement
Interracial marriages are understated. When Jeremiah tells his father that he wants to marry a white girl, he responds that white people do not see their whiteness. Consequently, both races are the obstacle that makes it difficult for children to intermarry.
Allusions
The story alludes to interracial hurdles that make it difficult for young people of different races to get married.
Imagery
The narrator brings readers' attention to the book setting using sensory imageries, which depict both sight and smell. The narrator writes, "My great-aunt's apartment was cramped and dark and smelled of unbaked bread and morning breath."
Paradox
The main paradox is that even the blacks do not encourage interracial marriages because they view the whites as racists. Therefore, racism is likely to continue to the unseen future.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
‘If You Come Softly’ is a metonymy referring to possibilities behind racial differences.
Personification
N/A
