Love Begins in Winter Literary Elements

Romance, Fiction

England, America, and Ireland, in the 20th century.

The narrator is a third person omniscient who shows the thoughts and feelings of the main characters in each story.

Nostalgic, melancholic, romantic

The protagonist in the 5 short stories is the lover who tries to reach the person they love. The antagonist is life and the obstacles they face to get to each other

The main common conflict in the 5 stories is that the main characters are trying to understand themselves. They start to question the meaning of love and if the people they love are truly who they love. If these people deserve sacrificing their lives for them. Some face the conflict of death, of not being worthy (money and lifestyle-wise), and some face the conflict of not wanting to marry but still love that person.

The climax in the stories is mainly when the main characters realize that they fell in love with a certain person and they have to choose their next actions that could be life changing.

"She glared at me. And then suddenly an arm of sunlight reached through a high window and opened its hand upon her face. I saw her eyes as clearly as if we had been pressed against one another in a very small space." Bruno in Love Begins in Winter, pg. 41

" I think Sandy is depressed a lot. More than once I’ve found her sitting at her desk in the dark." Bruno in Love Begins in Winter, pg.43.
He understated depression when he just assumed that Sandy is depressed because she sits alone, while depression is more complicated than that.

In most of the stories, the fact that children's lives are greatly affected by their parents' treatment has been mentioned. Children remember every incident that happened with them, and it affects them someway or another when they are grownups as they make decisions, most of which can be crucial.

"The reflection off the water made the light seem golden; many of the houses were red and wore small towers at their corners. People sat in parks and drank water from plastic bottles. A man in a black T-shirt walked his dog and chatted on a cell phone. A girl on a bicycle ticked past. Her basket was full of lemons. Her hair was very curly. The sidewalk cafés were packed. Faces hidden by newspapers. Groups waiting for a table." Love Begins in Winter, pg. 56

"We plead with God to spare us from disease, while consciously filling our bodies with toxins." Tiger, Tiger, pg. 75

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"The two dolls became our younger siblings." Pg. 27
"Fog wrapped the cliff in its thick coat." Pg. 64
Love Begins in Winter