Genre
Coming of age novel
Setting and Context
Set in the 1990s in Glasgow, Scotland, and written in the context of sectarianism and community conflict.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Enlightening, disheartening, and sanguine
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Mungo Hamilton.
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between Mungo and James because they are in love but belong to different religious sects. Mungo is an ardent Protestant, James is a Catholic, and the religions do not agree.
Climax
The climax comes when Mungo and James decide to keep their sexual relationship a top-secret because it goes against societal expectations. Society in Scotland forbids the same-sex relationship.
Foreshadowing
The irresponsibility of Mungo’s mother foreshadows Hamish’s involvement in criminal activities.
Understatement
The outcome of poor parenting is understated in the book.
Allusions
The story alludes to societal perceptions of same-sex relationships and the conflicting religious sects.
Imagery
Societal perception is described using imagery when the author argues that Mungo and James hide their relationship from people for fear of ridicule.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Mungo is a perfectionist but, on the contrary, is gay.
Parallelism
There is parallelism between religions and societal perceptions about same-sex relationships.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Common sexual identity is used as a metonymy for a gay relationship.
Personification
N/A
