Playing for the Devil's Fire Literary Elements

Coming of an age and Adventure novel, Moralistic Literature.

The settings of the novel is the town of Izayoc, Toluca and Mexico in 2016

The narrator of the novel is Boli and the story has been told from his point of view. There are accounts of his childhood, adulthood and various phases of his life as he was growing up.

Resentful, Resilient, Optimistic, Sad.

The protagonist of the novel is Liberio, who has been called by his nickname Boli throughout the novel. The novel begins when he was thirteen years old. The antagonists in the novel are the cartels who take several lives in the novel.

The major conflict in the novel is between the protagonist and the corruption that was prevailing in his society. His parents do not return from their trip to Toluca, His friends were being killed by the Cartel and all this was happening just because of the corruption.

The climax comes in the novel when Boli's parents do not come back from Toluca.

The disappearance of Boli's parents foreshadows other deaths and destruction in their society.

The understatement in the novel is that corruption is a fatal disease that spreads readily and destroys the foundations of a society.

There are allusions to death, kidnapping, corruption, childhood, old age Oblivion, schizophrenia and deteriorated society in the novel.

There are images of children playing and getting jealous from the winner of the game, Then there are images of death, destruction and old age employed by the writer.

The paradox in the novel is that Boli wants to grow up but his grandmother wants to go back in her old days when she was young. Another paradox is that although Abuela was living in the present but she always imagines that she is living in her past when she was with her husband.

There is a parallelism between devil's temptations and the age of Boli. As he grows up, the traps of devil also increases.

An example of synecdoche in the novel is 'Boli' who represents baking. It was the nick name of the protagonist and it was given to him just because his father was a baker. An example of metonymy is the town of Mexico which represents all the societies which are being crushed because of the evils of corruption.

A marble stone and corruption have been personified in the novel.