Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poems are told from a first person subjective point of view.
Form and Meter
The poems are written in free verse and thus there is no form and meter.
Metaphors and Similes
In many of the poems, the author compares herself and other humans with vermin and with parasites. The reason for creating this comparison is because the author wanted to highlight the idea that humans are insignificant and worthless in comparison with the greatness of the world in general.
Alliteration and Assonance
We find alliteration in the lines ‘’a worm on the leaf,/a worm in the dust’’.
Irony
It is ironic to see how the author praises and diminishes the importance of humans in society almost at the same time.
Genre
Meditative poems
Setting
There is no fixed setting for the poems as it is hard to determine the place and time the author refers to.
Tone
Tragic, hopeful
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Goodness and the antagonist is Evil.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between the protagonist and the antagonist of the poems, the two battling for dominance in a world controlled by fear.
Climax
Since The Walls do not Fall is a collection of meditative poems, there is no point that can be considered as being the climax of the poem.
Foreshadowing
The first poem in the collection foreshadows the major them in the following poems.
Understatement
No understatement can be found in the poems.
Allusions
One of the things alluded in the poems is the idea that religion was useless during the Second World War. The poet wrote about the events that took place during that time and mentioned in her poems the names of different religions, confessions and beliefs, be them old or new. Then, as she mentioned them, she also mentioned how every single one of them was useless during the war and how the people were left to tend for themselves during the war. Thus, the author implies that during times of great peril and distress, religion has no place in a person’s life and that people need to learn how to take care of themselves, without putting their faith in something bigger than them.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
When the author uses the term vermin, she uses it in a metonymical way to make reference to all the human beings living on earth.
Personification
In the second poem, the second line ‘’good was impoverished and sad’’.
Hyperbole
N/A
Onomatopoeia
N/A
