Genre
Drama
Setting and Context
In war-torn Trinidad and Tobago, on the fictional Miguel Street
Narrator and Point of View
B. Wordsworth is told from the first-person perspective of the boy.
Tone and Mood
Naipaul's short story is tense, mysterious energetic, chaotic, and lively.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The boy is the story's protagonist and B. Wordsworth is the story's antagonist.
Major Conflict
The relational conflict between the boy and B. Wordsworth is the main conflict in the short story.
Climax
The climax of the short story occurs when the boy goes over to B. Wordsworth's house and the two part ways for the finally time, B. Wordsworth telling the boy to never see him again.
Foreshadowing
The boy leaving B. Wordsworth for good was foreshadowed by B. Wordsworth's deception.
Understatement
The extent of the boy's naivete is understated initially in the story.
Allusions
There are allusions to the religion of Trinidad and Tobago (mainly Catholicism and other traditional religions), the geography and culture of Trinidad and Tobago, to mythology, other popular culture, and to the history of Trinidad and Tobago and the world.
Imagery
Imagery concerning bees becomes more prevalent as the boy and B. Wordsworth's relationship grows stronger.
Paradox
B. Wordsworth is near the end of his life, yet befriends a young boy with whom he shares little in common with.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Lend a hand is an example of metonymy. When someone asks another person to lend them a hand, they are asking them to help them do some work.
Personification
Miguel Street, which is the street that the boy lives on, is personified and was given human characteristics, in the short story.
