Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
Set between the 1990s and 2000s in the United States of America.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Humorous, remorseful, compassionate
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Carlotta, and the antagonists are the prison warders and inmates.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between Carlotta and the prison authorities. Instead of hearing Carlotta's pleas to be put in the right prison, they put her in the male's prison.
Climax
The climax comes when Carlotta is released from prison.
Foreshadowing
The ignorance of the prison authorities foreshadows Carlotta's sexual abuse.
Understatement
The prison authorities understate sexual abuse that takes place inside the cells.
Allusions
The story alludes to Shakespeare.
Imagery
The sudden change in Noreen’s color when the judge renders a verdict against Carlotta shows her dissatisfaction. The narrator says, “She turned red and leapt up to tell epithets. She almost to the color they sued to dye them pistachio nuts.” Noreen expected the judge to give Carlotta a life sentence, but she was only jailed for 22 years
Paradox
The main irony is that the prison officers who are supposed to protect Carlotta from sexual intruders are the ones raping her.
Parallelism
n/a
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
Robots are personified when the author says that they can listen and follow instructions.
