Genre
Young Adult Fiction
Setting and Context
Small town in Arkansas during World War Two
Narrator and Point of View
Patty Bergen is the main character and twelve year old narrator telling the tale from her point of view
Tone and Mood
coming of age, alternating hopeful and loving with fearful and resentful
Protagonist and Antagonist
Patty Bergen is the protagonist, her father the antagonist
Major Conflict
The Second World War is the major conflict underpinning the novel, as not only is Anton only in Arkansasbecause he is a prisoner of war, but Ruth is preoccupied with the welfare of her son who is a soldier fighting in Europe, and Patty's friendship with Anton is viewed as treason because of the conflict between their countries
Climax
The FBI discover that Patty has helped Anton and she is therefore in trouble; this is also when Patty discovers Anton has been killed
Foreshadowing
The news of Anton's death is foreshadowed by the FBI investigator showing Patty his shirt with a bullet hole in it and bloodstains on it
Understatement
Her father took out his anger on Patty - anger does not begin to describe the sheet violent and unprovoked physical attacks and is a great understatement
Allusions
Everyone believes Sharon to be so captivating that she will grow up to be Betty Grable, the favorite pin-up of GIs in the war
Imagery
Only thing I ever saw, though, was the cattle-wire fencing strung high on Y-shaped poles which squared off a huge open area. Back a distance towards the center of the treeless compound there were ten or more long whitewashed barracks sitting on their own patches of grass.
Patty paints a picture for the reader of the barracks where Anton is kept which conjures up the loneliness of the location
Paradox
Although Patty knows that her father is never going to treat her with love and kindness she still makes every effort to make him love her
Parallelism
Patty feels totally alone despite being on home ground which parallels Anton's feelings of being alone in that he is in a foreign country representing a goverent he opposes and feeling hated; although their situations differ their feelings are parallel
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The word Nazi is used to mean "Germans"
Personification
The town threw stones at the Bergen's home after Patty's actions were revealed, "the town" being individuals who live in the town
