Eight Men Literary Elements

Short Story Collection

Set in 1959

Third-person narrative

Ambitious, optimistic, hopeful and fascinating

The main character is David Saunders.

The main conflict is in the story 'The Man Who Was Almost a Man', in which Dave wants to demonstrate his manhood. Unfortunately, after buying a gun, he kills his employer's mule because he does not have experience in using a gun. Dave is forced to pay fifty dollars, and the gun is withdrawn from him.

The climax is in the story 'The Man Who Lived Underground', where Fred hides in sewage tunnels after being wrongly accused of murder. While living in the tunnel, Fred turns into a spy; when he spies on the activities taking place in the mortuary, he sees an undertaker washing the body of a white man. Therefore, Fred is happy to realize that racial discrimination does not exist in death.

Dave's embarrassment in the story 'The Man Who Was Almost a Man' is foreshadowed by his desire to prove manhood.

People's confessions in the story 'The Man Who Lived Underground' are understated. When Fred spies on the church, he is shocked to learn that people confess their criminalities to a man who seems holy enough to forgive them.

The stories in the collection allude to fantasy, humor and explorations.

The imagery of the mortuary depicts sight to readers. Through sight imagery, readers see how the undertaker washes the body of a dead white man and realizes that racial discrimination does not exist in death.

The main paradox is in the story 'The Man Who Lived Underground', in which Fred is wrongly accused of murdering a white woman. Instead of defending himself, Fred hides in the sewage tunnel.

N/A

The sewage water is a metonymy for the rot in society. For instance, the entire governance structure and the police force are corrupt.

The tunnel is described as a cave that gives solace to Fred. Therefore, the tunnel is incarnated as having the ability to save human life.