Genre
Realistic Historical fiction.
Setting and Context
The setting of the novel is Britain and Jamaica in the 1800's.
Narrator and Point of View
The novel has been written from first person's point of view and it has been narrated from Olivia's point of view, who is the protagonist of the novel.
Tone and Mood
Anxious, Angry, Mournful, Sad,
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the novel is Olivia Fairfield, who is a black heiress after the end of slave trade in Britain.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the novel is between the whites and the blacks. Despite of the end of the slave trade in Britain, the whites used to treat the blacks with much contempt and hatred. They still had racial prejudice against the former slaves.
Climax
The climax comes in the novel, when Olivia gets to know about the first wife of Augustus that she is alive.
Foreshadowing
Mrs. Merton's attitude towards Olivia foreshadows the racial prejudice in England.
Understatement
An understatement in the novel is that the prejudice with which the whites used to treat the blacks had been embedded in them, several years ago and it would take several years to eradicate it because despite of getting freedom, the blacks were being treated as slaves. Another understatement is that the women were doubly subjugated i.e. by the whites and by the patriarchy. Olivia loses her senses at the end of the novel just because of the male chauvinism. Her father compelled her to marry a man who didn't love her, through his will and her husband cheated her.
Allusions
There are allusions to slave trade, marriage, Christ, death, inheritance, racism, patriarchy, romantic love and mental illness are present in the novel.
Imagery
There are images of death, persecution, mental illness, escapement and marriage.
Paradox
An example of paradox in the novel is that the slaves were free but still they were living the lives of slaves, they were being treated brutally by the whites and they used to look upon them with contempt. Another paradox in the novel is that the whites describe the blacks as the ignorant ones and boast about their own civilization, but the reality seems to be the opposite because Olivia shows a sensible attitude, unlike the whites.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between freedom and slavery.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
An example of metonymy in the novel is that Olivia represents all the blacks and slaves who were the victims of racial prejudice while an example of synecdoche is property as a result of marriage which alludes to inheritance.
Personification
The property has been personified in the novel.
