Genre
Horror, Fantasy, Fiction
Setting and Context
On the Blackfeet Reservation, and in the neighboring town.
Narrator and Point of View
The point of view is predominantly that of Lewis, until his death, at which time the point of view shifts to being Gabe's.
Tone and Mood
Foreboding, vengeful, avenging, hopeless, frightening.
Protagonist and Antagonist
This really depends on your point of view as the reader. Some may find Lewis and his friends to be the protagonists, and the Elk to be the antagonist. Some may sympathize with the Elk who was the original victim, and find her to be the protagonist, avenging the wrongs done by her antagonists.
Major Conflict
There is conflict between the Elk and the men who had killed her when they were unruly boys.
Climax
The Elk is reunited with the bones of her murdered calf and takes them into the wilderness with her.
Foreshadowing
Whenever any of the main characters see the Elk, it foreshadows their own death.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The novel alludes to many tribal traditions and the importance of them. This is also the basis for the novel in that the hunting of the Elk in the area where the tribal elders lived was prohibited.
Imagery
The imagery is dark and foreboding and although colors and light are never mentioned in the novel the reader imagines almost all of the novel to be taking place in black and white because some color would bring lightness and hope, of which there seems to be none in the book.
Paradox
Gabe was said to feel shame about participating in the murder of the Elk but his daughter only learned about the murder through her stepfather.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between what was done to the Elk and her calf and what she is doing to avenge the slaughter.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Reservation is the word used to encompass the individuals living on it.
Personification
There is none, but the Elk as a character is anthropomorphic.
