Genre
short stories and essays
Setting and Context
Set between 1944 and 1946
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is wretched, and the mood is reflective.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Timoteo.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is in the story ‘The Interview', in which Elio encounters a metallic voice informing him that he has been nominated for an interview to have first contact with an alien.
Climax
The climax is in the story 'The Mirror Maker', after which Timoteo perfects the art of making unique mirrors resembling a credit card attached to an individual's forehead to reflect a person's appearance in your mind.
Foreshadowing
The violent encounter by ‘M’ in the short story ‘Force Majeure’ is foreshadowed by the abrupt appearance of the sailor and his dog.
Understatement
The merits of patent protection in the story ' Time Checkmated' are understated.
Allusions
The story ‘The Commander of Auschwitz’ alludes to the evils of the Nazi regime.
Imagery
The most predominant imagery is in the story 'The Great Mutation', in which a village is attacked by a virus that makes people grow wings. The first person to spout wing is Isabella, then her father. The spouting of wings depicts sight imagery.
Paradox
The primary paradox is in the story 'The Interview', where the alien is not interested in understanding human existence but only focuses on human digestion and hygiene.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The term utilitarian is used as a metonymy for effectiveness.
Personification
N/A
