Genre
Autobiography
Setting and Context
Set in the 1940s in the context of the harsh environment of Cuba even after Castro became president in 1959.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is tense, and the mood is buoyant.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Arenas.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is when Arenas discovers that he is gay and the government under Castro does not tolerate homosexuals.
Climax
The climax comes when Arenas' aunt betrays him by informing the government that he is gay.
Foreshadowing
His aunt's betrayal foreshadows Arenas' imprisonment, who wished to see him behind bars.
Understatement
The government’s brutality towards homosexuals is understated.
Allusions
The story alludes to government brutality towards gays.
Imagery
The rape incident in the cell where Male guards sexually molest arenas depicts sight imagery to help readers see the brutality of the prison warders.
Paradox
The primary paradox is that when Arenas is arrested, he is later beaten and raped by the guards in prison. The reader finds it satirical that the guards protecting the interests of a government against gays are themselves, homosexuals.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Prison is incarnated as brutal.
