Genre
Memoir
Setting and Context
Set in Bloomington and Indiana cities in 2019.
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is Machado, and the memoir is written from her point of view in the first person narrative.
Tone and Mood
The tone is informative, and the mood is calm.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character in the memoir is Machado, and the antagonist is the Dream House woman.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between Machado and the Dream House woman. The Dream House woman is oppressive and physically abusive towards Machado.
Climax
The climax comes when Val and Machado are married and live happily afterwards.
Foreshadowing
The breaking of the doorknob foreshadows her lack of self-advocacy.
Understatement
Machado downplays Pastor Joel’s ability to abuse her sexually.
Allusions
The novel alludes to the United Kingdom report "End the Fear," which shows that 25% of LGBTQ couples suffer from abusive relationships.
Imagery
The narrator depicts a sense of sight to her readers when she describes her parents' effort to break her bedroom doorknob to get her out. The imagery shows the worry of Machado's parents, depriving her of her self-advocacy skills.
Paradox
The primary irony in the memoir is that Pastor Joel masquerades as a fearful man of God. Still, in reality, he is a sexual predator who takes advantage of young girls to abuse them sexually.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism when Machado states that the Dream House woman treats her friends harshly, and Val’s approval that the woman is physically abusive.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
n/a
