Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
The action described in the book takes place during present time in America.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood is a neutral one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Raymond and the racist people around him.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is an internal one and is the result of Raymond's desire to be the person his parents want him to be and the desire to follow his own path in life.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when the relationship between Aurora and Raymond falls apart.
Foreshadowing
The novel begins with the narrator describing Raymond as being different from other Chinese-Americans. This distinction is used here to foreshadow the later problems which will appear between Raymond and his parents.
Understatement
When the narrator claims that Raymond is independent is an understatement because it is later revealed just how difficult he finds the act of taking any form of decisions for himself.
Allusions
One of the most important allusions we find here is the idea that the parents are the ones responsible for their children's unhappiness.
Imagery
One of the most important images os that of the main character, sitting on his own at the end of the novel. This image is important because it portrays the idea that the character will never be able to fit in.
Paradox
One of the most paradoxical ideas is the way in which the main character continues to try and find a woman to start a relationship with even though he claims he is not interested in such a thing.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The buses are used here as a general term to make reference to the idea of modernity.
Personification
We have a personification in the line "the world around them stilled all at once and held its breath".
