Genre
Mythology
Setting and Context
The setting is at the beginning of the world when the creators were crafting human beings.
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is in the third person and holds the view that Seven Macaw was evil for he had magnified himself to be the sun.
Tone and Mood
The tone is cunning and excited because it narrates about the tricksters Hunaphu and Xbalanque. The mood is joyful, especially after the killing of Seven Macaw who had terrified the rest of the population.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are Hunaphu and Xbalanque who killed Seven Macaw and his sons because the family of Seven Macaw was destructive towards the newly formed earth. The antagonists are Seven Macaw and his sons who committed atrocious acts including killing four hundred boys.
Major Conflict
Seven Macaw had magnified himself to be the sun and the moon of the earth whereas his son Zipacna was the creator of the mountains. His other son was the earthquake who destroyed the earth. The family of Seven Macaw did atrocious acts including killing seven hundred boys.
Climax
The climax of the story of Seven Macaw is his death whereby he was shot by Hunaphu and Xbalanque and the killing of his other sons by the two boys.
Foreshadowing
Hunaphu and Xbalanque foreshadowed how they would kill Seven Macaw they said that they would kill him by shooting him with a blowgun. They killed him by shooting his mouth with a blowgun and all his teeth fell from his mouth.
Understatement
Earthquake understated himself and his power when he said, ‘I just scatter the earth...’ His actions were of great consequence to the earth because he could bring down mountains.
Allusions
N/A
Imagery
The birds that Hunaphu and Xbalanque cooked are described as, ‘...cooked them until they were brown dripping with fat that oozed from the backs of the birds, with an overwhelmingly fragrant aroma.’
Paradox
A paradox is drawn between how the Zipacna treated the four hundred boys to how they treated him. Zipacna had helped them work and they planned to murder him.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between when Seven Macaw was great because he had glittering teeth and eyes that provided light to the earth since the sun had been obscured and could not provide the earth with enough light and when all his eyes and teeth had fallen out because he had been shot by Hunaphu and Xbalanque.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Various elements of the earth such as earthquakes are personified. The earthquake is portrayed as a person who feeds, talks, and has parents.
