Genre
Contemporary novel
Setting and Context
Written in the context of grief, physical and mental growth and the human relationship with non-living things.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Horrifying, somber, disheartening, aggressive, and hopeless
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Benny Oh.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is that Benny's father dies in a tragic accident, and the boy is left traumatized because he hears voices from objects all over the house.
Climax
The climax comes when Benny finds solace in the library where the objects' voices are not extreme. At the library, Benny also meets the love of his life.
Foreshadowing
His father's death foreshadows the stressful moment Benny and his mother go through in life.
Understatement
The negative impact of depression is understated in the text. After the death of Benny’s father, his mother becomes depressed to the point of death.
Allusions
The story alludes to people's challenges after losing their loved ones.
Imagery
The imagery of hearing is dominant in the text. When Benny Oh is at home alone, he hears voices from ordinary things in the house. The more the ordinary things increase in the house, the more Benny hears.
Paradox
The main paradox is that the objects at the house become aggressive and angry when communicating with Benny.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The poor pet is used as a metonymy for hope.
Personification
The ordinary things in the house are personified because they produce voices.
