Genre
Fiction; novel
Setting and Context
Florida in the early 1980's.
Narrator and Point of View
An unnamed, third-person omniscient narrator.
Tone and Mood
The tone is intriguing; the mood is powerful.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Bob is the protagonist; Florida is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel occurs when Bob DuBois makes the journey from New England to Florida, with the goal of finding his fortune.
Climax
The climax of the story is reached when Vanise joins Bob in the state, after moving from Haiti to escape the conflict there.
Foreshadowing
The union of people in Florida is foreshadowed by the fact that they are all new there.
Understatement
The role of converging with those who are different is understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
The story alludes to the ways in which people from around the world drift into each other's lives.
Imagery
The imagery of hope and freedom is present in the novel.
Paradox
The fact that Bob is working-class, yet thinks he will get rich is an example of paradox in the story.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the life of Banks himself and the stories in the novel.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
