Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
Mississippi in the 1980s
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Friendly and tranquil
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Carol, and the antagonist is the anonymous woman.
Major Conflict
The conflict is when the unnamed narrator fails to impress her daughter in whatever she does.
Climax
The climax is when Carol feels love for the first time.
Foreshadowing
Depression foreshadows Carol's habit of alcoholism.
Understatement
The understatement is when the narrator says her daughter is sad. The reality is that the daughter is depressed and in pain.
Allusions
n/a
Imagery
Sense of sight is portrayed when Carol depicts the rich woman’s son as attractive and irresistible to any woman.
Paradox
The irony is when the daughter of the unnamed woman narrator fails to appreciate her mother’s efforts to make her happy.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between the attractiveness of the wealthy woman's son and Carol's first feeling of love.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
Rochester is personified as appealing to any woman.
