Spare Literary Elements

Spare Literary Elements

Genre

Memoir

Setting and Context

Harry's memoir takes place across the world, but is primarily set in Great Britain over the course of his life thus far.

Narrator and Point of View

Prince Harry is the narrator of Spare.

Tone and Mood

Harry's memoir is judgemental, sometimes callous, other times loving and caring, analytical, and self-reflective.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Harry and Meghan are presented as Spare's protagonist and the royal family are portrayed as Spare's antagonists.

Major Conflict

The conflict between Harry and the Royal Family, who he doesn't believe in and doesn't wish to be a part of.

Climax

Queen Elizabeth II's death is ostensibly the climax of Spare, though Harry's book doesn't use a typical fictional narrative structure.

Foreshadowing

Harry leaving the Royal Family is foreshadowed by the death of his mother and the fallout from her death.

Understatement

Harry's responsibility in the discord between him and the Royal Family is understated quite often in the book.

Allusions

There are allusions in the book to Harry's life, the culture and history of the British Royal Family, which stretches back for hundreds of years, the culture of the United Kingdom, the media industry in the U.K. and eventually, the U.S., and to films, T.V. series, and other pieces of media.

Imagery

As the relationship between Harry and the Royal Family grew more fractured, emotionally charged imagery becomes more common.

Paradox

Harry claims to not believe in telling secrets and spilling the beans about private conversations, but does so in Spare.

Parallelism

n/a

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Buckingham Palace is a metonym for the residence and seat of power for the British royal family.

Personification

The apparatus of the British Royal Family is personified and given human characteristics throughout the book.

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