Genre
Fantasy
Setting and Context
The action of the novel takes place in London and also in America over a period of a year.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is narrated from a third person omniscient perspective.
Tone and Mood
Tragic, violent, amusing, ironic
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Charlie and the antagonist is Tiger.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between Charlie and Tiger. The later wants to destroy Charlie and Spider as a way of taking revenge on Anansi and to punish the boys for what his father had done to him.
Climax
The story reaches is climax when Charlie discovers his powers.
Foreshadowing
In the first pages of the book, the author mentions how Charlie used to love birds and how he would look at them and hear them sing. The author then writes how Charlie will later end up fearing the sound and the sight of birds, thus foreshadowing the events to take place.
Understatement
After being told that Mr. Nancy was a God, Charlie refused to believe claiming that his father was just a normal man. After returning home, Charlie claimed that he will never believe in what was told. This is however an understatement as he later changes his opinion after he meets his brother.
Allusions
It is alluded that when Mr. Nancy visited his former wife, he cured her of the cancer that was killing her. The doctors believed that they had misdiagnosed her and that she never had cancer to begin with but the implication is that Nancy healed her.
Imagery
In the third chapter, the author mentions how the first time when Charlie visited his future mother in law he took a bite from a wax fruit which was on the table. After the incident, Charlie tried to convince the woman that everything was planned and that he actually enjoyed wax fruits. This scene portrays Charlie as a person who can’t hold his ground and as someone who does not know how to make himself loved by those around him.
Paradox
After learning that his father was a God, Charlie asked why, paradoxically, he did not inherit any of his father’s gifts. Later, Charlie refused to believe that his father was indeed a God and questioned everything he was told.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
No metonymy or synecdoche could be found in the novel.
Personification
In the third chapter, ‘’delightful chatting’’.
