Genre
A novel
Setting and Context
The events of the story take place in East Village, a tiny village where a group of Mennonites lives. Nomi is a sixteen-year-old teenager who tries to cope with the loss of her mother and sister who fled from East Village, leaving Nomi and Ray behind.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is told from the first point of view. Naomi Nickel is the narrator.
Tone and Mood
The tone is extremely sad while the mood is depressing.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Nomi Nickel is the protagonist while the Mouth is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is person vs. self.
Climax
Nomi’s excommunication is the climax of the novel.
Foreshadowing
“The furniture keeps disappearing, though.”
Understatement
“But I think I’m gonna die, you know? Did you hear me? I feel that way. I feel halfway there.”
“You’re sixteen, she said, that’s a wonderful time in a girl’s life. Go home and make yourself a cup of tea and try to relax.”
This is a rather strange piece of advice. A cup of tea is absolutely useless when a person needs real help.
Allusions
The novel alludes to the Virgin Lands Campaign.
Imagery
See the imagery section
Paradox
“Mennos discouraged from going to the city, forty miles down the road, but are encouraged to travel to the remotest corners of Third World countries.”
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“That’s what The Mouth did…” (The Mouth is metonymy that means a preacher.)
Personification
“It was one of the best things that had ever happened to me, watching those dresses dance wildly in the wind.”
