Genre
young adult, science fiction
Setting and Context
post-apocalyptic future, USA
Narrator and Point of View
Narrator: Jack
Point of view: first person
Tone and Mood
Tone: impartial
Mood: nightmarish, gloomy
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: Jack; Antagonist: the raiders, Soneschen
Major Conflict
Jack decides to leave the safety of her home and go search for her lost older brother Dean.
Climax
The day of the neck-tearing practice arrives, which is a death sentence for Jack and Kevin (or Jonah who secretly took his place), Dean, who is now the leader of the raiders, reveals his hidden plan: he injected dogs with the virus to use them against the raiders. He commands the dogs to attack the raiders while Jack and the rest escape.
Foreshadowing
"He swallows and says, "But I feel like I know you. I feel like I've known you for months."" p. 140
-Kevin telling this to Jack-it foreshadows the fact that he is the vagabond who visited her home for months, so he's not just feeling that he's known her for so long.
Understatement
Jack understates Kevin and decides to ignore the warning factors, blinded by her attraction to him. It worked out at the end for her, but if things didn't end up as they did, her life and lives of her friends would be put in serious danger with little chance of survival.
Allusions
"Good morning, Little Red Riding Hood." p. 135
Imagery
There is imagery of abandoned and rotting homes, buildings and the entire dying world outside the wall.
Paradox
"Trust versus mistrust. Attraction versus repulsion. Truth versus lies." p. 156
-Jack's feelings for Kevin after she realizes he is the vagabond.
Parallelism
"So empty. So abandoned. So dead." p. 17
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The raiders-raid and take everything that is on their way, mostly women, while asserting dominance in the world outside the wall.
Personification
"Silent, odorless, still, the dawn-washed world seems as if it is holding its breath." p. 17
