The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Literary Elements

Children Literature, Realist Fiction, Adventure story.

The setting of the book is twentieth century in Sweden and the book has been written in the context of introducing the geography of Sweden.

The book has been narrated from a third person's point of view, who is an anonymous narrator.

Didactic, Moralistic, Pensive, Amusing.

The protagonist of the book is Nile who is young boy. He used to torture others but later he is transformed into a compassionate human being. The antagonist of the book is a fox who tortures the geese and attempts to kill them.

The major conflict in the story is between Nils Holgersson and his own cruel acts towards animals. Another conflict in the story is between Akka and Smirre fox.

The climax in the book comes when Nils is transformed into a Tomette and the geese grabs him along with them.

Nils realizes his cruel treatment of animals and it foreshadows his transformation as a better human. Nile' refusal to Tomette's offer also foreshadows the misfortune of Nils Holgersson.

The understatement in the book is that one should be kind towards others. Another understatement is that the most dry subjects like geography can be taught in an amusing way through fiction.

There are allusions to the geography of Sweden, animals, raven, geese, fox, cruelty towards animals, hybrid creatures, transformation of soul, cultural values of Sweden, sympathy towards others, the earth, the transformed world, sea, milk, family and reunion.

There are images of Nils traveling with the animals and learning about the various cultural aspects of Sweden. The author has demonstrated Nils as transforming into an animal. Nils has been portrayed as inflicting violence upon animals and teasing his friends. He is presented as a bad boy and then later on he is depicted as a wonderful human.

The paradox in the story is that Nils possess all the traits which are usually associated with the animals and are called as animal instincts. He tortures the innocent animals like cat and gets pleasure by hurting them. Another paradox in the story is that he learns about human values of kindness and compassion by traveling with animals. He was not acquainted with the passion of sympathy prior to embarking on adventures with the flock of geese.

There is a parallelism between Nils' transformation into a Tomette and his human values. As he transforms into an animal, he starts learning the cultural and moral values. Another parallel has been drawn between Nils physical and spiritual journey.

An example of metonymy is Nils who represents all the people who treat animals with cruelty. An example of synecdoche is the flight of geese which depicts its attempt to escape the attacks of fox.

Animals, kindness, compassion and sympathy have been personified in the book.