Genre
Adventure novel, Fiction.
Setting and Context
The settings of the novel include mountains and the town of Pine.
Narrator and Point of View
The narration of the novel shifts between the characters of the novel and sometimes it has been narrated from a third person's point of view by an unknown narrator.
Tone and Mood
Alarming, Optimistic, Sympathetic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the novel is Milt Dale, who is a hunter and the antagonist of the novel is Beasley who kidnaps Helen's sister Bro.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the novel is between Milt Dale, who is the man of the forest and Beasley, who is a kidnapper and a thief. Beasley wants to kidnap Helen but eventually kidnaps her sister Bo and Milt Dale saves both the sisters from his trap.
Climax
The climax in the story comes when Milt Dale overhears Snake Anson and Beasley who were plotting to kidnap Helen.
Foreshadowing
The way Milt Dale teaches the survival skills to both Helen and Bro, it foreshadows that he is their savior.
Understatement
The important understatement in the novel is that one should not be afraid of the enemies and a person is capable of doing the things which he considers impossible.
Allusions
There are allusions to wild life, forest, mountains, setting of the sun and sun rising.
Imagery
Animal imagery has been employed by the writer in the novel. For example, there are wolves, horses and a cougar. There are also the images of birds, sun rising, sun setting, mountains, happiness, hope and savior. The novel is also replete with forest imagery. It begins with a wonderful images of forest, the narrator says “At sunset hour the forest was still, lonely, sweet with tang of fir and spruce, blazing in gold and red and green."
Paradox
Jim Wilson was a member of Snake Anson's group but the paradox is that he helps in kidnapping Helen but later on saves Helen'e sister, Bo from the trap of Beasley and Snake Anson.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between Beasley's attempts to kidnap Helen and Milt's efforts to save her. Whenever Beasley makes a plot to trap Helen, Milt Dale creates a counter plan so the efforts of both protagonist and the antagonist of the novel go hand in hand.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
An example of Synecdoche is 'Cougar' which represents wildlife and an example of metonymy is Helen who represents all the women who are oppressed by patriarchy.
Personification
The ranch of Helen's uncle has been personified in the novel.
