Miles Morales Literary Elements

Young Adult Fantasy

Modern-day Brooklyn.

Third-person narration from the perspective of Miles Morales

Angry, optimistic, heartwarming.

Protagonist: Miles Morales; Antagonist: Systemic racism and modern-day slavery.

Miles is struggling with his identity while coping with the systemic racism that is ingrained in his society. As a superhero, he has to balance the responsibility and the power that comes with the title and being a normal teenager.

The climax occurs when Miles has the showdown with the strange cat with nine tails.

The visions and nightmares of a strange cat foreshadow the antagonist that Miles will face in the end.

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“Under that table, a mess of wires and video game consoles. Old-school. Nintendo. Sega. An Atari they couldn’t get to work.” Since Miles is a young teenager who loves gaming, the novel alludes to brands of game consoles.

“It’s amazing how quiet the basketball court gets when things are about to go south. There’s a stillness. A dead air. The streetlights had flickered on by now, and what was left of the sun was just about gone—only the faintest recognition of blue in a black sky.”

“Yes, the Thirteenth Amendment states that there shall be no more slavery in the United States, except as punishment for crime.” The basis of the Thirteenth Amendment and the idea of the modern-day prison system is contradictory.

“Even though my neighborhood is a beautiful place to grow up, sometimes it can get complicated. And my father and his brother fell victim to the street, becoming teenage thieves, bringing problems to our neighborhood …The same fearlessness that led them to crime is what leads me to excellence.” Miles parallels his life with that of his father and uncle who fell victim to the mean streets unlike him.

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“The sunlight of daybreak was now being overshadowed by the gloom of clouds.”