Genre
A collection of short stories
Setting and Context
Every story depicts the lives of modern Spokane Indians. The stories are set in Washington State, roughly present time.
Narrator and Point of View
Either the first- or the third-person point of view. Each story has its own narrative type.
Tone and Mood
The tone is either sharp and sarcastic or contemplative. The mood is moving, deeply touching.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Spokane Indians are the protagonists. Globalization is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is person vs. self. The majority of characters have self identity issues.
Climax
The day when Corliss finally meets Harlan Atwater is the climax of “The Search Engine”.
Foreshadowing
The title of this collection – Ten Little Indians – foreshadows the events of every story in depicting cultural conflicts.
Understatement
“That was over twelve hundred pounds of Spokane Indian sharing a couch and a bowl of tortilla chips”.
When Corliss says “twelve hundred pounds” instead of the exact number of people, it seems that she doesn’t count them as separate personalities.
Allusions
Elvis Presley’s death
Imagery
Images of the characters are provided in each story; these help to get a deeper view into their personalities. Also images of the city park and streets are present, and help to visualize the reality in which the characters live.
Paradox
“Corliss thought that she might sleep with him if he took her to a clean apartment, but she decided to hate him instead”.
Parallelism
“Treaty making treaty breaking”
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“The Auden was worn and battered”. (The Auden is synecdoche and it means a book of Auden’s poems.)
“The librarian was a small woman wearing khaki pants and large glasses’. (“Glasses” is a trivial metonymy that means spectacles.)
Personification
“Corliss wondered what happens to a book that sits unread.”
