Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
The action takes place in California during present time.
Narrator and Point of View
The action is told from the perspective of a third-person subjective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood are neutral.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are Gabe and Tomas, and the antagonist is their father.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is an internal one and is between Gabe's desire to follow his dreams and his desire to help his family.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when Gabe joins a gang as well and decides to no longer return to his home country.
Foreshadowing
At the beginning of the novel, the narrator mentions how Tomas became involved in a gang. This foreshadows how Tomas will later become injured due to gang-related activities.
Understatement
When Ika claims that she is happy in America is an understatement because it is later proven that she only claims that because she wants to offer her children a better life than she had.
Allusions
The main allusions we find in the book are the idea that the most important thing in life is having a family and making them happy.
Imagery
N/A
Paradox
One of the biggest paradox presented in the book is the idea that even though the young boys knew that the gang life was a dangerous one, they still decided to join one just because they wanted to feel like they belong to a group.
Parallelism
A parallel is drawn between the lives the two brothers had in the Philippines and the life they had in America. This parallel is used here to transmit the idea that the life the two boys had in the Philippines was a lot purer and as such a lot happier.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Money is used in the novel as a general term to make reference to the idea of power.
Personification
We have a personification in the line"the flower enchanted everyone with its beauty".
