Genre
Combination between fictional history and history
Setting and Context
The action described here takes place in Mexico, in the village called La Matosa. While the time when the action takes place is not mentioned, it is implied that it is sometimes in the distant past.
Narrator and Point of View
The action is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood are a neutral one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The antagonist is the witch and the protagonists are the people whose lives were affected by the witch.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between normality and supernatural events.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when the body of the which is discovered.
Foreshadowing
The description of the body which appears at the beginning of the story is used here to foreshadow the later violent events which will take place throughout the story.
Understatement
When the villagers claim that even though the body of the witch was discovered she was in fact still alive is an understatement because time and time again the characters are faced with proof that the witch is indeed dead.
Allusions
The fact that Norma can't take responsibility for her decision to abort the baby and decides to blame the witch who helped her is used here as a way to allude to the idea that humans have a hard time dealing with the consequences of their own actions and that they are always looking for someone to blame for their actions.
Imagery
No important imagery can be found here.
Paradox
One of the most paradoxical ideas is the fact that even though every character claims that they hate the witch, they can't stop themselves from approaching her body and inspecting it with great interest.
Parallelism
A parallel is drawn between the witch, the antagonist, and the rest of the villagers who see themselves as good people and even pure. This parallelism is an important one because it shows that no one is universally good or evil and that people should be more careful when blaming others for their own problems.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The witch is used here as a general way to make reference to the idea that misfortunes can be caused by a single person.
Personification
We have a personification in the sentence "the grass caressed their feet".
