How It Happened Literary Elements

Fiction

Set in the early 19th century in the Amazon Basin of South America.

First-person narrative

Truthful and optimistic

The protagonist is the unnamed narrator. The antagonist is not mentioned.

The major conflict is between the unnamed narrator and Perkins. When Perkins tries to tell the narrator to be careful about the new car because of its unique gears, the narrator refuses and says he knows how to drive the car. They both end up having a nasty accident.

The climax comes when Perkins and the narrator arrive in London despite getting involved in an accident.

The excitement of driving a new car foreshadows the car accident the narrator and Perkins get involved in.

There is an understatement when the unnamed narrator says that his new car is ordinary. In reality, the car had complicated gearshifts, making it complex.

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The narrator describes how the accident occurred to depict a sense of sight. The narrator says, "I didn't mind so much when I felt my footbrake snap, but when I put all my weight on my side brake, and the lever clanged to its full limit without a catch, it brought a cold sweat out of me."

The main paradox is fate. When the narrator survives a nasty accident, he thinks that he will live many years to come. Ironically, a strange disease attacks the narrator the following day and kills him instantly. The strange medical condition is not related to the accident the narrator had got involved in the previous day. The irony is significant in the text because it shows the randomness and unpredictability of life.

There is a parallelism between Perkin’s concern about the complexity of the car and the narrator’s last words before the accident occurred.

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There is personification when the narrator says, "Then I remember the big motor, with its glaring headlights and glitter of polished brass, waiting for me outside." The car is given the human ability to glare and wait for the narrator to accompany him.