Genre
Memoir
Language
English
Setting and Context
The events in the story take place in Greenville, South Carolina
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narration
Tone and Mood
In story a philosophic tone prevails, sometimes sorrowful and pessimistic
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the story is Dorothy Allison, the girl who was struggling against the severe realities of her life; the antagonist – her stepfather, who abused her
Major Conflict
The major conflict stands in struggle between Allison’s desires and difficulties on her way to them
Climax
The climax happens when Allison protects herself against her father and tells him that he will never touch her again
Foreshadowing
The fact that Allison was born in poor family foreshadows challenges on her way to the dream
Understatement
In the story the role of women is understated
Allusions
The story alludes to feminism, lesbianism, rape and other social sexual problems
Imagery
See the imagery section
Paradox
The paradox of the story is standing in Allison’s struggle between her complexes and constant work on them
Parallelism
The story has parallels with large sociological problems in cultural contrast, social stereotypes, and feminism
Personification
The author uses metonymy and synecdoche to highlight the message of the utterance: “Beauty is a hard thing. Beauty is a mean story.” “some echo of love”
Use of Dramatic Devices
The author uses personification for creating the realistic effect of the thing: “Beauty is slender girls who die young” “The moment stretched out”
