We Were the Mulvaneys Literary Elements

We Were the Mulvaneys Literary Elements

Genre

Fiction, Novel

Setting and Context

The novel takes place in New York, as from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Narrator and Point of View

Judd Mulvaney is the first-person narrator.

Tone and Mood

Solidarity, reflective, disillusionment, traumatizing, depression, vengeance, devotion.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The Mulvaneys are the protagonists. Zack Lundt is the antagonist.

Major Conflict

The Mulvaneys sticking together through the externally-caused tragedies and trauma that befall their family.

Climax

The family’s reunion which transpires on 4th July 1993.

Foreshadowing

Corinne’s act of running over “something dashing in front of the station wagon,” foreshadows of the family’s forthcoming trauma that will commence once it is disclosed that Marianne was sexually assaulted.

Understatement

Marianne understates Zack Lundt’s role in the assault when she claims that accusing him of rape would be equivalent to “bearing false witness.” She overstates her culpability by claiming that she was involved in drinking, which she surmises contributed to her being raped.

Allusions

Legal and religious allusions are incorporated in the novel. Oates alludes to science by citing Darwin and Einstein.

Imagery

Drunkenness largely contributes to the Mulvaneys' trauma: Marianne's rape ensues when she is drunk, her father sinks into alcoholism in the aftermath of her rape, and it makes him get into a fight. Besides, Mike Jr.'s drunkenness contributes to the family's plight as well, particularly when he gets into an accident.

Paradox

Marianne is stigmatized and punished for years after her rape, yet she was the victim.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Abuse, assault, taking advantage of, hurt" refer to Marianne's rape.

Personification

N/A

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