Genre
Historical fictional novel
Setting and Context
Set in the 1920s in Nashville in the context of magical realism
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is edgy, and the mood is demoralizing.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Two Feathers.
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between Two and Hank’s relationship with the status quo. For instance, they are always discriminated against and reminded of their place.
Climax
The climax comes when Two Feathers learns about the zoo's history and discovers that it was constructed on a land of marginalized people.
Foreshadowing
Racism and segregation foreshadowed the troubled relationship between Two and Hank.
Understatement
Bigotry is understated in the text. Despite denying marginalized people opportunities, bigotry demeans people and makes them look useless in society.
Allusions
The novel alludes to marginalization, slavery, bigotry, isolation, classism, and war distress.
Imagery
The description of the pool waters before Two Feathers dived depicts a sense of sight.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Two Feathers goes against the status quo to date a black man, and their relationship is highly criticized.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Segregation is a metonymy for prejudice against a section of people.
Personification
N/A
