The Kid

The Kid Literary Elements

Director

Charles (Charlie) Chaplin

Leading Actors/Actresses

Charlie Chaplin

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance

Genre

Silent comedy-drama

Language

Silent with English title cards

Awards

National Film Preservation Board awarded The Kid a place on the National Film Registry

Date of Release

1921

Producer

Charles Chaplin

Setting and Context

The film is set primarily in an impoverished urban area, likely Los Angeles.

Narrator and Point of View

There is no narrator; the point of view shifts between primarily The Woman and The Tramp.

Tone and Mood

The tone is comedic and sentimental; the mood is dramatic, absurd, and hopeful.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is The Tramp; antagonists include the police officer, the child welfare authority, the doctor, and the flophouse proprietor.

Major Conflict

The major conflict in the film is that The Tramp must learn to be a parent and provide John with the love and care that The Woman's note pleads for.

Climax

The film reaches its climax when The Tramp and John are reunited on The Woman's doorstep before the three characters enter the mansion together.

Foreshadowing

That the manager of the flophouse's newspaper shows an ad offering a reward for the return of the boy foreshadows John being taken away while The Tramp is sleeping.

Understatement

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

The Kid marked the first time Chaplin could test his theory that a mix of "sentiment and slapstick" would appeal to audiences. After proving it to be a winning formula, Chaplin continued to inject moments of melodrama into his slapstick films.

Allusions

Paradox

Parallelism

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