The Long Valley Literary Elements

The Long Valley Literary Elements

Genre

Short stories collection

Setting and Context

The stories are set in the Central Valley of California.

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narrative

Tone and Mood

The tone is somber and the mood is frightening.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonists are Elisa, Harry and Saint

Major Conflict

The major conflict in the story ‘Flight’ is when Mama Torres’ son, Pepe, stabs someone to death. Pepe is later shot dead as well.

Climax

The climax is in the story 'Breakfast', where the narrator wakes up to find a beautiful woman with an infant preparing breakfast. The narrator is invited by strangers to join them in making breakfast, and this most memorable event the narrator lives to remember.

Foreshadowing

In the story 'Vigilante,' the lynching of the black man foreshadows racism and discrimination against marginalized groups.

Understatement

The marriage between Jim and Jelka is understated in the story 'The murder.' Marrying a foreign partner should not be considered a crime.

Allusions

The story 'Saint Katy the Virgin' alludes to most people's desires to see others fail in life.

Imagery

The images of flora and fauna in California paint a picture of the beauty of the environment, thus, depicting sight imagery.

Paradox

In the story ‘The White Quail,’ the man intentionally kills the quail that his wife admires and adores.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The killing of the quail is a metonymy referring to a human's desire to heart the inner peace of others.

Personification

The visitation of birds is personified. Mary waits for the birds to visit her and allow them to take a bath in her garden.

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