Genre
Metafictional novella – combines elements of both fiction and non-fiction
Setting and Context
The fictional Appleton College, Massachusetts
Narrator and Point of View
It is third-person narration.
Tone and Mood
Since the topic discussed in the novella is of morality and humanity, the tone and mood of it is intense.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Elizabeth Costello who gives the lectures on animals rights; the antagonist is society, or representatives of society who tend not to exercise sympathy concerning animals and their poor state.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is in differentiation in people and animals, in their needs and wishes, in morality and humanity.
Climax
The climax comes in the very end when Elizabeth tells her son what she really feels – that she is tired.
Foreshadowing
From the very beginning it is obvious that between Elizabeth and her daughter-in-law exists a conflict, hostile atmosphere foreshadows that the conflict will get bigger.
Understatement
The meaning of the conflict between Elizabeth and her daughter is somehow understated, since it is depicted only as a result of different opinions. But if to dig deeper it becomes clear that the conflict stands more in generation conflict, in education and even in bringing up of a child.
Allusions
There are many allusions in the novels: to The Golden Notebook as a vivid example of feminist fiction, to Kafka’s “A Report to Academy” and some other works of literature.
Imagery
The images of cruelty in concentration camps during the World War II are depicted; the images of animals in poetry also have specific meaning in revealing the author’s message.
Paradox
Elizabeth’s son finds it paradoxical that his mother, being a writer – a master of words, could not tell him a tale when he was a boy, because she lacked the feeling of imagination.
Parallelism
The main parallel of the novel is that in its form – fiction is integrated with non-fiction, and the plot is revealed through this integration.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“Confinement to prison is the form of punishment that the West favors and does its best to impose on the rest of the world” (West is metonymy for people of Western countries)
Personification
N/A
