Genre
Philosophical book
Setting and Context
The book is written in the context of the theories of truth.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Optimistic, upbeat, moving, enlightening
Protagonist and Antagonist
Soren Kierkegaard is the protagonist and narrator of the book.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is the intrinsic absurdity in the scenery of thought because an individual cannot learn what he does not know.
Climax
The climax is repentance, in which the individual talks with God in secrecy to ask for forgiveness. After that, the person repenting is empowered by God to transform from a learner to a teacher.
Foreshadowing
Sin foreshadows the distancing of human beings from God, who is the true teacher.
Understatement
Religion is understated because the assumption is that people worship only to get God’s forgiveness. In the broader sense, religion is the groundwork of knowledge.
Allusions
The story alludes to the relationship between man and God.
Imagery
The imagery of God is evident throughout the book. The author paints God as a teacher, a Supreme Being who can forgive and empower humanity. Despite God being invisible, the author uses imagery to make Him visible to readers.
Paradox
The main paradox is that a man cannot seek to know what he already doesn’t know. Therefore, this philosophical thinking makes learning a useless process.
Parallelism
The parallelism is that God, who is the teacher, can also transform his believers into teachers.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The term 'corruption is used to refer to willful unawareness of truth.
Personification
N/A