Meridian

Meridian Literary Elements

Genre

Fiction; historical fiction

Setting and Context

Southern United States, 1960

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narrator

Tone and Mood

The tone of the novel is filled with anger and power. Although the characters exist in a world where the prevailing mood is hateful, they attempt to find ways to move forward and fight for justice.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is Meridian. There is no singular identifiable antagonist, though racism and sexism could be considered conceptual antagonists.

Major Conflict

The major conflict faced by Meridian and the people she loves is their attempt to survive in a world where hatred and violence are the norm. Meridian and her friends must make sense of random, brutal attacks, racist obstruction of justice, and the lack of support from anyone around them.

Climax

The climax of the novel comes when Meridian attends a black church that is focused on activism and sees a bereaved man talking about his son; she swears to him that she would kill for the revolution before allowing his son to be murdered again.

Foreshadowing

In the beginning of the novel, Truman doesn't want to talk to Meridian about his wife or daughter, foreshadowing his divorce and his daughter' death.

Understatement

N/A.

Allusions

There are allusions to real historical events throughout the novel, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy's funerals.

Imagery

See the ClassicNote's separate section on imagery.

Paradox

N/A.

Parallelism

N/A.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A.

Personification

N/A.

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