Genre
A science fiction novel
Setting and Context
The action takes place in the small town Chester's Mill, which is situated in the state of Maine. This town is covered with a dome, which does not allow inhabitants to pass through it.
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator of the novel is a third person, who talks about a global problem of the town.
Tone and Mood
The mood of this novel is Intriguing, because the reader does not know in advance what will happen to the main characters.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The main protagonist is Dale “Barbie” Barbara. The main antagonist is James “Big Jim” Rennie
Major Conflict
The major conflict happens between two civilizations. Somehow, aliens land on our planet and cover Chester’s Mill with a dome. It causes a riot in the town and everyone struggles to survive.
Climax
The climax happens, when inhabitants find the source of the dome's appearance and try to remove it. At this moment, they are looking for any way to connect with aliens and solve the problem.
Foreshadowing
Once, Judy, who is a secondary character, begins to have an attack, during which she says ‘The pink stars are falling. The pink stars are falling in lines. It’s so dark and everything smells bad.’ At first, it seems to be nonsense. However, she predicts some connection with the dome. Later it turns out that the pink stars are connected with the dome and characters can solve the problem, which concerns their town.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The novel alludes to:
• James McMurtry, who is American poet, singer, and guitarist;
• Big Sky, which is a ski resort in the state of Montana;
• Muscle Shoals, which is a city in the state of Alabama;
• Jack Benny, who is a famous American comedian;
• Rod Serling, who is American screenwriter, producer and announcer.
Imagery
Images of the life in the town and of environment helps the reader better to understand and portray the events
Paradox
The main paradox is an appearance of the strange dome, which isolates Chester’s Mill from the whole world. Actually, it is impossible in the realistic world.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
News announce, “The town Chester’s Mill is cut off”. It is a metonymy as it stands for the all inhabitants, who are isolated by the dome and do not have opportunity to leave the town.
Personification
Weapons, which characters use for threats and murders, personify death and pain.
