Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
The book is set in New York.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Sad, pessimistic, disheartening, hopeless
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the story is Peter Keller.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is when Peter gives up on the idea of law school and chooses to be alcoholic and hopeless.
Climax
The climax comes when Peter falls in love with a young writer, and he gets a job as a composition professor.
Foreshadowing
Peter's life tribulations and instability were foreshadowed by his hopelessness when he realized that he could not join law school.
Understatement
The erratic behavior of Peter is understated in the text. Besides using drugs, he threatens people of possible bombings, which leads to his arrest by the police.
Allusions
The story alludes to the impact of depression and hopelessness.
Imagery
The imagery of self-destruction dominates the book. The author describes Peter’s life and how he dived into the dangerous zone of abusing drugs and taking alcohol. Consequently, the reader sees the hopeless life of Peter, who never settles down.
Paradox
The main paradox is that despite Peter's overturned life, he is powerful in sexual encounters. Throughout the text, Peter wins beautiful and successful women, which makes other men jealous.
Parallelism
Mr. Kelly’s dream of seeing his son go through law school parallels Peter’s behavior and hopelessness.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Drug abuse is embodied as a bad influencer.
