Genre
Memoir
Setting and Context
Mid nineteenth century New York, located in two separate prisons
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is Austin Reed and he is narrating his events as the eyewitness from his own perspective.
Tone and Mood
The tone is warning and angry, and also philosophical.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Reed is the protagonist; he views the justice system as the antagonist.
Major Conflict
There is conflict within Reed as on one hand he believes that crime fiction glorifies bad acts, and that this is wrong, but on the other hand he writes about his life as if it is a work of fiction, using a fictional "character" to portray himself.
Climax
Reed is released from juvenile detention and finds indentured farm work. This is the climax of his youth.
Foreshadowing
Reed's belief that black people are more likely to commit bad acts foreshadows his own return to jail on a larceny charge.
Understatement
Reed states that at the time of his incarceration the justice system was weighted against African Americans; this is a huge understatement.
Allusions
Reed alludes to slavery and the way in which it indentured men like him to servitude.
Imagery
No specific examples
Paradox
Reed thinks the justice system is biased against people of color but also believes that people of color are more likely to commit crimes because they have an ethnic predilection for doing so.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the life of the "fictional" character in Reed's memoir and his own life.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
No specific examples
Personification
No specific examples.
