Genre
Technothriller
Setting and Context
Seattle, British Columbia, Xiamen; Present Day
Narrator and Point of View
Narrator is omniscient
POV keeps changing for every character
Tone and Mood
Tone and Mood is thrilling, suspenseful
Protagonist and Antagonist
Zula is the main protagonist and Abdallah Jones is the main antagonist
Major Conflict
Abdallah Jones kidnaps Zula, as she is american, and offers safe passage first from Xiamen, and then through Canada.
Climax
Climax occurs during the gun-battle in which Zula, Richard and Sokolov are trapped by the terrorists.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing occurs through the letters Zula wrote as last communication to her family which is found later and alerts her family of her whereabouts
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
Many allusions to literary works are made, as in Tolstoy's famous quote, "all happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way", which is used as "all rich areas are alike, each slum is poor in its own way"
Imagery
A very powerful imagery of T'rain is used to create a world same as that of the real world but with its own rules and backstory
Paradox
Zula hated the terrorists for kidnapping her, but at the same time felt empowered with their proximity
Parallelism
There is a parallelism in the world of T'rain and the real world, especially in terms of landforms and social hierarchy.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The fish market of Xiamen is personified as a demon which could swallow anything and not spit it back.