I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Literary Elements

Nonfiction

The book is written in the context of Ginsburg’s life.

Third-person narrative

Informative, moving, inspiring

The protagonist of the story is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The major conflict is that Ginsburg is discriminated against in her field of law because she is a woman. For instance, men dominate the field, and Ginsburg is denied placements and jobs in law firms.

The climax comes when Ginsburg, at last, manages to join the Supreme Court and fights for women's rights. Ginsburg fought for the freedom the modern woman enjoys.

Ginsburg’s entry into Supreme Court foreshadowed hope and freedom for the modern woman.

The patriarchal society that Ginsburg’s grows up in is understated. Besides restricting a girl from going to school, men do not want to give girls an opportunity to compete favorably with men.

The story alludes to injustices directed towards women by men because they are considered as a weaker gender.

The setting of Harvard University in 1956 is described using sight imagery to aid readers to see how female students had limited places in the institution. The author writes, "When Ginsburg started Harvard Law School in 1956, she was one of nine women in a class of five hundred men. Only one of the teaching buildings had a women’s bathroom.”

The main paradox is that America's patriarchal society during the time of Ginsburg justified gender discrimination by arguing that they were protecting women. However, the reality remains that women were treated unjustly.

There is parallelism between the protective barriers against women and the expectations of learned women like Ginsburg.

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Harvard University is incarnated as a discriminator who does not value women education. For instance, there is only one bathroom in the entire block for female students.