Genre
Literary fiction, suspense, coming-of-age
Setting and Context
The fictional town of Bois Sauvage in Mississippi
Narrator and Point of View
Jojo, Leonie, and Richie alternate telling the story in first-person narrations.
Tone and Mood
The tone is somber. The mood is somewhat gothic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The main protagonist of the story is Jojo. The antagonist can be seen as Parchman, or as institutionalized racism/violence.
Major Conflict
Jojo must learn about his family's painful past as he brings his father home from the state penitentiary.
Climax
The climax of the story is when the reader learns the details surrounding Richie's death.
Foreshadowing
Jojo killing the goat in the opening scene foreshadows the painful and gruesome events he will soon learn about.
Understatement
Mam's thinning hairline understates how her body is being ravaged by a deadly cancer.
Allusions
There is a literary allusion to Macbeth when Pop refers to the continuing sensation of having blood on his hands following the death of Richie.
Imagery
The image of Richie and the other African American spirits trapped in the tree is a strong visual portrayal of the communal sense of grief.
Paradox
The book questions the idea of linear reality and instead amplifies the idea of circular time. There is a paradox about the supposed "freedom" of Black Americans when laws and systems continue to exist that amplify oppression.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between Richie and Jojo, since they are both adolescent Black boys that face the perils of a racist society.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Mam's thinning hair is a synecdoche that symbolizes her painful death from cancer. Parchman is a metonymy for a system of racist, state-funded oppression.
Personification
The environment of Bois Sauvage is personified in order to underscore the vitality of elements that are often considered "inanimate."