Genre
Novel, magic realism, post-feminism
Setting and Context
1977, dystopian United States where civil war has broken out between different political, racial and gender groups.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narration. Evelyn is a narrator from the beginning, he is a young British professor who moves to New York City for new job to the end when he turned to a new body of Eve.
Tone and Mood
The story is conveyed as a magic story with unusual ending because of its supernatural events. A lot of events and characters are very interesting and unusual for reader and it creates an enigmatic mood.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The major protagonist is Evelyn, and the major antagonist is Zero.
Major Conflict
Most of the conflict in the story can be read as a struggle between a man and a woman, this story is about their identity.
Climax
The climax begins in the moment when Zero captivates Evelyn and he wants him to rape Tristessa.
Foreshadowing
The old lady on the beach foreshadows the future of women who used to be well-to-do and to have a lot of attendants but now when she is old she is alone.
Understatement
The understatement in the novel is the wives of Zero. His wives are all passive. And it shows us the role of women in that period, they can’t realize themselves, they must obey
Allusions
The story alludes to Bible.
Imagery
Descriptions of transformation of a man into a woman is vividly depicted, as well as nature descriptions which are used as the background
Paradox
The transformation of the Evelyn and changes of Leilah.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Metonymy: Mother – as Mother of reviving and creator of a new world, Eve – is a first who was changed; in the Bible Eva is the first person who was created by God with Adam, and in the book Eve is the first woman who can change herself
Personification
N/A
