Genre
Children’s literature
Setting and Context
The novel is set inside Sally and her brother’s house during a rainy day and written in the context of racial diversity.
Narrator and Point of View
The novel is a first-person narrative.
Tone and Mood
The tone is candid, and the mood is buoyant.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Philip Nel is the main character in the book.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is that most children's books in the past were written during the helm of racism, and they advocate for hatred against Blacks.
Climax
The climax comes when Nel points out that children start learning how to appreciate racial diversity while they are young. Therefore, children's books should change children's attitudes to view all people regardless of color as equals.
Foreshadowing
Racially discriminating children's books foreshadow the endless bigotry against Black Americans.
Understatement
The impact of racism is underrated. Racism denies people equal opportunities, thus creating disparities in society.
Allusions
n/a
Imagery
The imagery of African nudity depicts the sense of sight to readers. The author writes, “Suggesting a kinship with animals, the two nearly naked Africans have tufts on their heads that resemble the tuft on the birds.” The imagery provides a vivid description of how Africans resemble animals in the original books. The imagery shows how Black people were perceived among the white society.
Paradox
The book's title is entirely paradoxical because all the characters are white people.
Parallelism
There is parallelism between racial discrimination and children’s books that promote bigotry.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
The cat acts as a real character in the story because it performs human activities. For instance, the cat speaks and relates as a human to fellow characters.
