Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
The stories were written in the last quarter of the 20th century, and the context is coming of age.
Narrator and Point of View
There is first-person narration written from the narrator’s point of view.
Tone and Mood
Terrifying and horrific
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are Beatrice, Irv, and Angela. The antagonists are not mentioned.
Major Conflict
In Greasy Lake, the major conflict is when the dangerous guys try to kill a man and rape his girlfriend. In 'The Underground Gardens,' the major conflict is when a man is duped into buying infertile land.
Climax
The climax in the story ‘Greasy Lake’ is when the dangerous boys leave the Greasy Lake wiser than before.
Foreshadowing
In the story 'Caviar,' the couple's trouble in conceiving foreshadows the husband's ill ending. In the story 'Termination Dust,' the higher ratio of women to men foreshadows the future competition for men where men go for the highest bidder.
Understatement
The understatement is evident in the story 'Bloodfall,' where the bloody rain makes it impossible to communicate and travel.
Allusions
The allusions to the bloody rain and Greasy Lake are evident because readers can interpret the hidden meanings.
Imagery
The short stories narrated in the book are full of images such as grotesque, the Greasy Lake, the bloody rain, and the hitman.
Paradox
The perceived dangerous guys in the 'Greasy Lake' are not dangerous. Similarly, 'The Top of the Food Chain' is entirely satirical.
Parallelism
In the 'Ape Lady in Retirement,' there is a parallel description of behavior in which the young charge is taught to unlearn his behavior which is also depicted in an ape lady.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The underground palace in 'The Underground Gardens' is represented as the human ability to transform the unimaginable into something precious.
Personification
In the story 'The Descent of Man,' the monkey is personified as a man who can marry the professor's girlfriend.
