Under the Banner of Heaven Literary Elements

Nonfiction, True Crime

American Fork, Utah, in the 1980s-2003; Nineteenth-Century Midwestern United States

Under the Banner of Heaven is told from an omniscient third-person point of view.

The tone of the text is grim and disturbing. Krakauer takes the tone of a journalist and historian, bluntly relating gruesome facts.

The antagonists of the text are violent Mormon fundamentalists, namely the Lafferty brothers. The protagonists are the victims of extremism, including Brenda Lafferty and the women who escaped coerced marriages.

The major conflict in the Lafferty storyline is Ron Lafferty's "removal revelation" and the brothers' ultimate decision to kill Brenda and Erica. The major conflict in the Joseph Smith storyline is the early church's rebellion against the American government and their Gentile neighbors.

The climax of the Lafferty storyline comes in Chapter 16, when Dan follows through with the revelation, murdering Brenda and Erica. The climax of the Joseph Smith storyline is in Chapter 18 when LDS members lay siege to the Fancher party during the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

The text uses literary allusions to illustrate the cultural impact of extremist beliefs. Chapter 3 opens with a quotation from William Shakespeare's Richard III, where the eponymous Richard admits to manipulating holy scripture to control his subjects and justify his villainous actions. This allusion speaks to how characters throughout the text, from Joseph Smith to Rulon Jeffs, abuse their followers' faith to gain and maintain power.

The text also contextualizes its narrative through the use of cultural allusions. For example, to bring the Joseph Smith story into the modern age, Krakauer writes: "In the spring of 1844 a scandal of Monica Lewinsky—like proportions exploded in Nauvoo..." Monica Lewinsky was an intern with whom former President Bill Clinton engaged in a sexual relationship. Notably, Lewinsky was subjected to relentless media attention. Thus, the author draws a parallel between the media circus surrounding Joseph Smith's sex scandal.

Under the Banner of Heaven was released in 2003, soon after the September 11th terrorist attacks of 2001. The event was referenced frequently throughout the text, as the attacks were religiously motivated and thus highly relevant to the Lafferty case.

The most frequent type of allusion used throughout the text are references to the Christian bible. For example, when recounting Brenda's murder, Ron initially went to the door, and no one answered. Dan remarks that this reminded him of the story of Abraham and Isaac, where God asks Abraham to kill his son as a test of faith.