October Literary Elements

Feminist, South African novel.

The settings of the novel are Scotland and South Africa, in the month of October after protagonist's living in Scotland for twenty five years.

The narrator of the novel is the protagonist of the novel i.e. Marcia Murray and the novel has been narrated from her point of view. She has told about the crisis of South Africans and the expatriates.

Tragic, worrisome, anxious,

The protagonist of the novel is Marcia Murray.

The major conflict in the novel is that the protagonist doesn't feel comfortable in her homeland; instead, she is at more ease in her adopted homeland. Another major conflict in the novel is the conflict of identity.

The climax comes when the protagonist returns back to the land of her birth when her brother asks her to come.

The former conflict of whether staying or leaving Scotland foreshadows the later conflict of staying or leaving South Africa. Furthermore, Marcia Murray's divorce foreshadows the problems of her life.

The understatement in the novel is the conflict that the expatriates undergo i.e. the expatriates are unable to choose between their adopted homeland and the place of their birth.

Allusions to Odyssey, apartheid, South African history, death, South African culture and law have been employed by the author.

The images of teaching, brokenness, time, death, decay and loneliness have been used by the writer.

The paradox in the novel is that Scotland is the birth place of Marcia Murray but she feels more comfortable in South Africa. Another paradox is that she loves her father but still she intends to leave him.

There is a parallelism between the life in South Africa and the life in Scotland. Another parallelism in the novel is between the story of Odyssey and the story of the novel itself.

An example of synecdoche is Marcia Murrey who represents all the expatriates. The example of metonomy is the depiction of family bonds through the father of the protagonist.

South African culture has been personified.