Genre
Nonfiction
Setting and Context
Set in 2005 in the Molotschna Colony, Canada.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is candid, and the mood is melancholic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is August, and the antagonists are the cops.
Major Conflict
There is a major conflict between August and the police when they put him behind bars. August confronts the cops and tells them he did not steal the police horse.
Climax
The climax comes when August is released from prison in England and returns to the Molotschna colony.
Foreshadowing
Monica's death foreshadows the misfortunes August faces in life, including jail.
Understatement
Klaas downplays the women’s series of lies when he calls them jokers.
Allusions
The story alludes to the 1848 first women's rights conference that took place in Seneca Falls, New York. The convention discussed the rights of women before the Declaration of Independence.
Imagery
The description of the room where the women conduct their secretive meeting depicts a sense of tranquility and stillness as the women reflect on their decisions. The narrator writes, "A room without a sound, where the earth spins beneath a calm, grey light." The imagery shows a moment of deep thought and reflection.
Paradox
The main paradox is that the women are having a secretive meeting on how to deal with their aggressive men in the presence of August. August is the only man in the meeting; he hears everything the women plan against men.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Hayloft is personified when the narrator says it knows the secrets of Molotschna women.
