Call It Sleep Literary Elements

Call It Sleep Literary Elements

Genre

Fiction

Setting and Context

The events of the story start in 1907 in New York, the USA. The family of Jewish immigrants tries to adapt to a new life

Narrator and Point of View

The story is told from the third point of view by an omniscient narrator

Tone and Mood

Tone is contemplative. Mood changes from calm to stressed one.

Protagonist and Antagonist

David Schearl is the protagonists of the story. Albert Schearl , David’s father, is the antagonist

Major Conflict

The main conflicts are character vs. character and character vs. self. David’s and Albert’s relationship could be described as rocky, for Albert is pretty violent and suspects that David could be a result of adultery. The second type of conflict is represented by David himself, for he has troubles with understanding himself and self-identifying.

Climax

The climax of the story happens when Reb Yidel relates David’s story to Albert and Genya . He makes up a story, which says that Albert is not his biological father . As soon as Albert hears Reb Yidel out, he finds all needed confirmation that David is not his son.

Foreshadowing

The scene of family reunion foreshadows a lot. A reader sees not a happy family, but a bunch of strangers who are awkward with each other

Understatement

Are you blaming me?
The scene, where Albert is angry with his wife for she couldn’t recognize him could be considered an understatement, for Albert doesn’t pay attention to his wife explanations, deliberately making them less important in comparison to the fact that Genya fails to recognize him

Allusions

Isaiah

Imagery

Imagery is widely used. It is mostly used to describe dreams, visions, feelings and everyday life of David

Paradox

Then here in the new land is the same old poverty.
The paradox is that America is often depicted as the Golden Land, but as it turns out to be, the problems are the same everywhere.

Parallelism

Rain, rain, go away, come again
Some oddeh day
It rhymes, for it is a song for children, so that they could memorize it easily. A mispronounced words “ oddeh ” indicates that children, who sing this song, are not native speakers

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Red days were Sundays.
Red days are an example of metonymy. They denote weekends.
Only that bald-headed pig with the glasses?
Glasses are an example of synecdoche, which refers to spectacles.

Personification

The ship curved around in a long arc toward Manhattan, her bow sweeping past Brooklyn.
A personal pronoun which is used for denoting a female human being is used for a ship, which is an inanimate object.

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