Genre
Autobiography
Setting and Context
The action takes place in Mumbai during the duration of a few years.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is told from the perspective of a first-person subjective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood used in the autobiography is a tragic one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Katherine and the antagonist is represented by the unjust social system in which the characters mentioned in the book live.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between poverty and decent living conditions.
Climax
Abdul's story reaches its climax when Abdul is no longer seen as a suspect by the police in a burning incident.
Foreshadowing
The tragic nature of the stories presented by the narrator is foreshadowed at the beginning of the book when the narrator describes the filth and run-down state of the slum.
Understatement
An influential person is quoted at the beginning of the story as claiming that one does not need much in order to be happy. This is proven to be an understatement later in the story when the narrator describes the unhappiness experienced by those who did not have access to the bare necessities to live and thrive.
Allusions
The main allusion we find in the story is the idea that the rich and influential do not care about the lives of the poor. As such, those who are less fortunate are stuck in a life they can't escape no matter how hard they try.
Imagery
One of the main important images in the story is that of Sunil, a young orphaned girl living in the slums and fending for herself. The young girl is an adolescent yet she still has the figure of a young child. This is because the young girl lacked the necessary nourishment as a child and she was not able to develop properly. This image is important because it shows just how much harsh living conditions can affect a person and his or her development.
Paradox
No paradoxical ideas can be found.
Parallelism
The narrator draws a parallel between the young children living in the slum and the children belonging to influential families. This parallel is important because it shows how unjust the world can be and how important it is for the whole population to have access to basic necessities.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Water is used here as a general term to make idea to the idea of the basic necessities a person needs to survive.
Personification
We have a personification in the sentence "the violent sky towered above us".
