A Single Man Literary Elements

A Single Man Literary Elements

Genre

Fiction

Setting and Context

1962 California, where being publicly homosexual was not accepted and when gay men lived "under the radar" to gain social acceptance

Narrator and Point of View

Third person narrator telling the story from George's point of view

Tone and Mood

Hopeless and depressing, devoid of present or future joy

Protagonist and Antagonist

George is the protagonist. Jim is the antagonist in that his death has rendered George suicidal

Major Conflict

There is constant conflict between George and Charley because she thinks his relationship with Jim was a trial run for the real relationship he should be having with her. George knows this is not the case.

Climax

As George decides to live and abandons his plan to commit suicide he suffers a huge heart attack and dies suddenly

Foreshadowing

Jim's death foreshadows George's increased isolation and sense of hopelessness

Understatement

George says that he finds it hard to be without Jim, which is an understatement shown by the fact he wants to kill himself so that he can be reunited with him

Allusions

No specific allusions

Imagery

There is a great deal of traditional "love" imagery in George's recollections of Jim particularly the Red of his lips and his comparison of them to rosebuds

Paradox

Just as George decides to live his heart gives out and he dies from a massive heart attack

Parallelism

There is a parallel between Charley's feelings for a man she cannot have and George's feelings for a man he cannot have back

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The college is used to encompass all of the individual people within it; George is concerned for what the college would think of him.

Personification

No specific examples of personification

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