The Unredeemed Captive Literary Elements

The Unredeemed Captive Literary Elements

Genre

Novel

Setting and Context

The novel is set in 1704 in Massachusetts in the context of kidnapping.

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narrative

Tone and Mood

Sad, somber, pessimistic, determined

Protagonist and Antagonist

John Williams is the protagonist of the story.

Major Conflict

The main conflict is when the Mohawk tribe combined efforts with the French in 1704 to raid the town of Deerfield, in which many people were killed and scores injured, and the rest were imprisoned. In the raid process, John Williams lost some of his nuclear family members before his eyes.

Climax

The climax is attained when Eunice reunites with his brother, Stephen, at her old age. William had tried to rescue Eunice without success. Stephen took the responsibility of rescuing Eunice, but they only met at an old age when she was fully integrated into the Native American society.

Foreshadowing

Queen Anne's war foreshadowed William's troubled future. For instance, some of William's children were killed and others imprisoned during and after the war.

Understatement

The supremacy war over who should have ruled Spain was understated because the impacts on the local citizens were severe. The war only focused on personal interests instead of the larger community.

Allusions

The story alludes to the conflict between the Native Americans and the Mohawk tribes in the early 17th century.

Imagery

The opening chapter of the book is composed of images to set the novel’s scene. For instance, the narrator mentions the imagery depicting sight when talking about the first frost, first harvest, the valley’s blaze and the forested ridges.

Paradox

The main paradox is that despite William’s efforts to rescue his daughter, he died without seeing her. Additionally, Stephen never rescued his sister because they met when she was already integrated into the local community at an old age.

Parallelism

William's struggle and challenges parallel the challenges the Native Americans went through in the hands of the colonizers.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

The war is personified as futile.

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