Genre
Collection of short stories
Setting and Context
The action takes place in the 1970s in Darwin, New Jersey.
Narrator and Point of View
The action in the stories is told from the perspective of a first-person subjective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood is a childlike one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Buddy, but there is no clear antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the stories is between innocence and the perversion caused by age.
Climax
The story “Thirteen” reaches its climax when the narrator receives a bike as a present from his father.
Foreshadowing
The sexual intercourse which will take place between Ann and Mike si foreshadowed by the title of the story, “The Wiener Man”.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The main allusion we find in the story “Snowman” is that no matter what type of education a child receives at home, he or she will always be influenced in a negative way by the friends they have.
Imagery
An important image is presented in the story “Forgiveness” when a girl is portrayed as refusing to stand and salute the flag. This act of defiance is criticized by staff members who were involved in the war and they even start to bully the girl. This image is important because it shows just how much the Vietnam War divided the country.
Paradox
One of the most paradoxical ideas which are present in almost every story is that being an adult does not mean that the person in question is responsible and can be trusted. In fact, many of the children in the stories are more mature and more reliable when compared to the adults in their lives.
Parallelism
A parallel is drawn in the story “Forgiveness” between Rocky and the other football players. Rocky does not represent the stereotypical football player and is in fact described as being a nerdy boy. The parallel is used here to transmit the idea that categorizing a person before really getting to know them can be extremely dangerous and unfair.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Alcohol is used in the stories as a general term through which the narrator makes reference to the idea of adulthood.
Personification
We have a personification in the story “Race Riot” in the sentence "the cars screamed at them as they passed in a hurry".
