Genre
Coming-of-age story
Setting and Context
West Milford, New Jersey.
Narrator and Point of View
The novel is told from a third-person point of view.
Tone and Mood
The novel is grieving, solemn, triumphant, sad, judgemental, empathetic, and lively.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Edward is the protagonist of the novel; the crash which took the lives of his family (and everyone else) is the novel's antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the novel is Edward's internal struggle with grief and the loss of his family.
Climax
When Edward goes to the crash site with his girlfriend.
Foreshadowing
The letters which Edward starts to read to deal with his grief are foreshadowed by his interactions with his uncle.
Understatement
The effect that the deaths of the other people on the plane had on Edward is understated initially in the novel.
Allusions
There are allusions to similar real-life plane crashes, other historical events, popular culture, other novels, and to religion and mythology.
Imagery
As Edward finally begins to process his grief and trauma, PTSD imagery and other emotional flashbacks become more frequent.
Paradox
There were quite a few people on Edward's plane, many of whom were near Edward, but no one but Edward survived.
Parallelism
N/A.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Washington D.C. is a metonym for the United States government.
Personification
The plane on which Edward crashed is personified throughout the novel.
