The Diviners Literary Elements

The Diviners Literary Elements

Genre

Autobiographical book

Setting and Context

Set in the early 1970s in Ontario, Canada

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narrative

Tone and Mood

The tone is ardent and the mood is relaxing.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Morag Gunn is the central character of the book.

Major Conflict

The major conflict is when Pique, Morag's daughter, leaves a note to her mother that she has gone to trace her father and roots.

Climax

The climax comes after Morag leaves Scotland for pilgrimage. After returning to Canada, she is more self-aware of herself, and she accepts her identity. Similarly, her daughter, Pique, reunites with her, and they make peace.

Foreshadowing

Brook's decision not to have children with Morag foreshadows her relationship with Jules, which resulted in the birth of Pique.

Understatement

Identity crisis is understated in the book. Morgan, her daughter and Jules are all characters struggling with an identity crisis.

Allusions

The story alludes to the significance of understanding oneself.

Imagery

The imagery of national identity is dominant throughout the book. The three major characters, Morgan, Pique and Jules, are all trying their level best to understand their ancestry.

Paradox

The main paradox is that Morag's foster father faked stories that turned out to be helpful to her. For instance, the cooked stories made Morag grow up as a hero and confident to face life with courage.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Pilgrimage is a metonymy for spiritual and personal therapy.

Personification

N/A

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