Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
Set in the United States of America at an unmentioned time.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is egoistical, and the mood is ominous.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Oly, and the antagonist is Arturo.
Major Conflict
There is a major conflict between Oly and Miss Lick. Oly does not want Miss Lick to convert Miranda into an ordinary human. To achieve her goal, Oly kills Miss Lick.
Climax
The climax comes when Chick sets Fabulon's camp on fire to stop Arturo from practicing his altruism cult.
Foreshadowing
Arturo's authority bestowed on him by his parents foreshadowed his altruistic ideologies.
Understatement
Miss Lick understates Miranda’s tail when she says it is useless.
Allusions
Dunny’s novel alludes to Toby Ord’s non-fiction book The Precipice: Existential Risk and Future of Humanity (2020) which shows the possible devastating effects of altruism.
Imagery
The description of Miranda's tail depicts a sense of sight. When Miranda dances at a strip club, her tail wags sexily, attracting revelers’ attention. Miranda uses her tail to make a lot of money because she is paid every time she dances at the strip club.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Miss Lick believes in altruism, but wants to help Miranda eliminate her tail.
Parallelism
n/a
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
Freaks are personified because they talk and interact with ordinary humans.
