Genre
The novel
Setting and Context
Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, France; the 20th century.
Narrator and Point of View
There are two narrators in the story: Vianne Rocke and Francis Reynaud. They give the image from the two polar different sides. Each narrator helps the reader to perceive the story more deeply and clearly.
Tone and Mood
The story combines both neutral tones and magic, even fairytale moments. Such a mood doesn’t make the reader bored, and adds a kind of mystery to the narration.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The main protagonist of the story is Vianne Rocke, as a woman free of the religious rules, and the antagonist is Francis Reynaud, the local cure. They are struggling during the whole story, but at the end they make peace.
Major Conflict
The major conflict develops between Vianne and the cure: she likes freedom, she doesn’t follow religion rules, she has her own thoughts concerning everything, while the cure is ossified, he has got used that everyone obeys him, so he starts the opposition against the woman. But at the end of the story the conflict came to its end.
Climax
The culmination of the story takes place at the Easter day. Before that moment the main conflict was strengthening more and more. And then, when the cure have finally eaten Vianne’s chocolate (before that he was sure that it was evil temptation), he had changed his mind concerning the woman. And life in the town changed.
Foreshadowing
The author shows us the bad manifestation of the religion: the hypocritical faith. He warns the reader not to be the Christian just in their shell, not in core.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The story often alludes to the Biblical stories, such as the parable about the seeds which fell into the different kinds of ground.
Imagery
Widely used in weather and nature descriptions, thus providing a certain background to the events and actions in the story
Paradox
The paradox of the story is embodied in the cure. Though he is a faithful person, he is somehow cruel and heartless to people, he hates Vianne only for that fact, that she doesn’t want to obey him, he hates the gypsies just for that fact that they are gypsies etc.
Parallelism
This method is used in the two-narrators telling. The story is given from the points of view of two “enemies”. The reader perceives the events from the two sides, and thus he better understands the plot.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The author often uses these methods, such as writing about the hand (of Josephine) which is going to steal something.
Personification
N/A
