Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
The novel is written in the context of depression.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Sad, depressing, melancholy, hopeful
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the story is Davy Ross.
Major Conflict
Davy Ross' grandmother dies abruptly, leaving him with horror and a hopeless future.
Climax
The climax is when Davy's father justifies homosexuality allowing him to get into an intimate relationship with Douglas.
Foreshadowing
The death of Davy’s grandmother foreshadowed his troubled future in which he ended up being homosexual.
Understatement
Homosexuality is understated in the text. Davy's mother is against homosexuality, but his father justifies it, arguing that there is nothing bad in sexually loving someone of the same gender.
Allusions
The story alludes to homosexuality and poor parenting.
Imagery
The imagery of death is evident in the book, and its description allows readers to see how devastated Davy is. After the grandmother dies, Davy moves to live with his alcoholic, divorced parents, and he becomes a homosexual.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Davy's father supports homosexuality and encourages his son to continue having a sexual relationship with a fellow boy.
Parallelism
There is parallelism between Davy's mother's views on homosexuality from those of his father.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
