Bone Gap Literary Elements

A novel, magic realism

The events of the story take place in Bone Gap, Illinois. The time period is from May to August, the year is not mentioned. Roza, a Polish student who came to the USA to study botany, is kidnapped by her teacher. She manages to escape and finds a shelter in a barn of the O’Sullivans. Two brothers, Sean and Finn, decide to help her. The longer she stays with them, the stronger their bond becomes until she is kidnapped for the second time. Finn, the younger brother, is obsessed with an idea of finding and rescuing her. While the people of Bone Gap are convinced that the boy is in love with Roza, it is not true. Finn is love with Petey, an angry-looking girl of his age. His obsession with Roza is based on his love for his brother.

The story is told from the third point of view by an omniscient narrator.

The tone is often subdued and gloomy, sometimes sarcastic, while the mood in mysterious.

Roza and Finn O’Sullivan are protagonists of the story. The Scare Crow is the antagonist of the novel.

Major conflict is person vs. person. It is revealed not only through Roza and the Scare Crow’s relationship, but also through Sean and Finn’s. While the conflict between a victim and a kidnapper is clear, the conflict between the brothers is more complicated. Although they love each other deeply, they struggle to find a common language. Sean continues to give up on his dreams, while Finn tries to show him that he doesn’t need those sacrifices, that he can help Sean too.

Roza and Finn’s escape from the Fields and return to home is the climax of the story. It is possible to say that the scene in which Sean sutures Roza’s wound and then cries on her lap is the climax of the story too.

Eventually, though, they found out that there was a good reason for Finn’s odd expressions.
This sentence in the beginning of the story promises readers an explanation of Finn’s strangeness.

Didi told her boys that they were old enough to look after themselves.
This is an example of an underestimation, for Didi is not right when she says that her boys are old enough. Although Sean is old enough to look after himself, Finn is only fifteen. Without a college degree, Sean can’t earn a decent sum of money, but he can’t go to college, for he has to look after Finn. Didi pretends as if it is not a problem and leaves them when they need her most.

The novel alludes to Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds” and the myth of Orpheus.

Imagery is used a lot to describe the parallel universe where Roza is kept.

The girl they loved most – and knew least of all – was gone.
The paradox of it is that the people of Bone Gap know next to nothing about Roza but love her more than people they have been living side by side with since their childhood.

Here, there, everywhere.

The inhabitants called it ‘’here”. (“Here” is a metonymy which stands for one’s native village, city, country etc).
The people of Bone Gap jangled ice in their glasses. (Glasses are a synecdoche which stand for a cup).

The plants twitching their green finger.