Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
The events of the novel unfold in the period from April to June 1992 in Milan, Italy.
Narrator and Point of View
The narration is revealed through the first-person perspective. Colonna is the narrator. Braggadocio is also a narrator, as he reveals his investigation concerning Mussolini.
Tone and Mood
The plot unfolds dynamically and is not particularly complicated, thus the mood and tone are steady, though the detective line of the plot keeps the reader tense.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the narrator of the novel – Colonna. The antagonist is the mass media represented in journalism.
Major Conflict
The main conflict concerns the new creation in newspapers: how sensations are composed and facts misinterpreted.
Climax
The climax of the novel occurs when Braggadocio is killed.
Foreshadowing
From the very first lines of the novel it is obvious that some secret has been revealed and because of it the main character’s life is in danger.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
There is an allusion to Chopin and his stay in the town Valldemossa; to Edgar Allan Poe’s detective stories including the story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”; and to the end of the World War II and Mussolini’s death.
Imagery
The images are mostly of personal characteristics, and depictions of Milan.
Paradox
The very paradox of how news influences people, and actually how this news is created is essential in the plot, but the author develops this idea by many other little paradoxes like the idea that “being a leader does not mean being able to write” and that “the Secretary of Defense does not necessarily know how to target missiles.”
Parallelism
Braggadocio’s investigation of Mussolini’s death is parallel to the work of the newspaper: he works on two projects at the same time, thus two parallel stories are presented.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“The newspapers lie, the television today lies.” (Newspaper and television are metonymies for the people who work there).
Personification
“The houses, gutted by the bombings, did not breathe with the old humility that emanated from the Roman ruins, but stared dimly with torn eyes, as if they were struck by lupus.” Here, houses are personified.
