In Dubious Battle Literary Elements

In Dubious Battle Literary Elements

Genre

Fiction

Setting and Context

Set in California on the context of capitalist exploitation.

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narrative

Tone and Mood

Ambitious, optimistic, inspiring

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is Jim Nolan.

Major Conflict

McLeod organizes a radical employees' strike to oppose the landowners' mistreatment of the immigrant workers. The conflict is that to attain such an ambition is a daytime dream.

Climax

When Dan gets into an accident while at work, the property owner refuses to give him medical attention, the incident inspires many workers to join McLeod's workers' party to fight for their rights.

Foreshadowing

The formation and actualization of the Worker's Party are foreshadowed by Dan's unfortunate accident at work.

Understatement

The mistreatment of immigrant workers by the landowners is understated. For instance, besides neglecting the welfare of immigrant workers, the employers are inhuman, as demonstrated in the case of Dan's accident.

Allusions

The story alludes to the challenges the immigrant workers went through at the hands of the landowners before they gathered the courage to fight for their rights.

Imagery

The description of Dan's unfortunate accident paints a picture of the landowners' brutality and inhumane behavior. The owner of the property is evil to the extent that he denies Dan access to medical attention.

Paradox

Dan's injury is paradoxical because despite sustaining pain, his accident plays a critical role in the formation of the worker's union, which in the long run, fights for the rights of the immigrant workers.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Worker's union is a metonymy for immigrant workers' reprieve in the long run.

Personification

N/A

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