Genre
Mystery
Setting and Context
Chaneysville, Pennsylvania in the 1980s
Narrator and Point of View
An unnamed, third-person omniscient narrator.
Tone and Mood
The tone is imaginative; the mood is hopeful.
Protagonist and Antagonist
John is the protagonist; Moses is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel occurs when John starts to investigate into the mysterious death of his father and 12 slaves.
Climax
The climax of the story is reached when John uncovers more about who his father truly was, and how his illegal activities affected the slaves.
Foreshadowing
The death of Moses is foreshadowed by the fact that he produced moonshine.
Understatement
The role of hunting is understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
The story alludes to the tensions in race and class that divided America.
Imagery
The imagery of searching blindly is present in the novel.
Paradox
The fact that John should be close to his father, yet knows little about him is an example of paradox in the story.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The ropes John finds are a metonym for the dead slaves.
Personification
N/A
