Genre
A collection of interlinked short stories. It is possible to classify this work as a novel, for they are all interlinked.
Setting and Context
The events of the story take place on the Flats Road, Jubilee, Wawanash Country, Ontario, Canada. References to World War II suggest that the story unfolds in the time period from 1940s to 1960s.
Narrator and Point of View
The stories are told from the first point of view by Dell Jordan.
Tone and Mood
Tone is thoughtful, while mood is bleak, sometimes agitated.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Dell Jordan is the protagonist. Her own changeable character and illusions are the antagonist of the story.
Major Conflict
It is person vs. self. Del feels the need for answers, but, as it often happens in a real life, there are none. Her questioning nature doesn’t let her live the life of an ordinary teenager. Moreover, she has to step over her own fears, when she decides to leave Jubilee.
Climax
Dell’s failure to get a scholarship is the climax of the story.
Foreshadowing
The Flats Road was the last place my mother wanted to live.
This quote foreshadows the events of the story. Ada, who worships education and knowledge, tries to influence the local society by the means of selling encyclopedias. Her mother’s fruitless attempts to educate others embarrass Del and create a conflict between the mother and the daughter.
Understatement
His hand covered the bruises on her legs. “She’s always goin’ around bumpin’ into things over at my place”.
Uncle Benny tries to hide the fact that Diana’s mother beats her and pretends that Diana’s bruises are a result of her own clumsiness.
Allusions
These short stories allude to World War II, and to many prominent writers such as Plato and Shakespeare.
Imagery
Imagery is often used to describe Jubilee and ins inhabitants.
Paradox
Is it a business letter? It is ad it isn’t.
Parallelism
Irene don’t come after me or I’ll hang you by your tits in a crab-apple tree.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
When he got the heart to, he began his story. (Get the heart is metonymy that stands for plucking up enough courage).
He liked the Flats Road, though he himself hardly drank, did not behave loosely with women or use bad language. (The Flats Road is synecdoche that stands for its inhabitants).
Personification
She run fine.
"She" is the car of Dell’s father.
