Genre
Historical Fiction
Setting and Context
The novel is set in New York. It starts in the 1870s and continues through the 1920s.
Narrator and Point of View
Trust is told from the third person of an unnamed narrator.
Tone and Mood
The novel is big, excessive, glamorous, mysterious, strange, intense, and occasionally, violent.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The Rasks are the protaginsts in the first and second sections; The Rask's former secretary is the protagonist of the third section of the novel.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel involves the conflict between the general public, who want to know where the Rask's wealth came from, and the Rask's, who don't want that information to come to light.
Climax
The Rask's deaths are the climax of the novel.
Foreshadowing
The Rask's secretary finding the letter is foreshadowed by some of their previous interactions together.
Understatement
The sheer wealth of the Rask's is understated in the third section of the book.
Allusions
There are important allusions to the history of the United States from the 1870s to the 1920s and the popular culture of that time, the geography of New York City, which is featured prominently throughout the novel, to Christianity, other religion, and Greek and Roman mythology.
Imagery
During the Roaring Twenties, imagery concerning extravagance and wealth becomes more common.
Paradox
The Rasks are incredibly wealthy people, yet have no discernible way they gained their wealth, unlike most wealthy people.
Parallelism
n/a
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
Throughout the novel, New York City is personified and given human characteristics.
