Children of the River Literary Elements

Children of the River Literary Elements

Genre

Young adult

Setting and Context

Phnom Penh during the Cambodian War

Narrator and Point of View

An unnamed, third-person omniscient narrator.

Tone and Mood

The tone is upsetting; the mood is hopeful.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Sundara is the protagonist; the war is the antagonist.

Major Conflict

The major conflict of the novel occurs when Sundara escapes from her city in the capital of Cambodia and moves to a town for safety.

Climax

The climax of the story is reached when the parents of Sundara laugh and say that she will marry Chamroen one day.

Foreshadowing

Sundara's journey to America is foreshadowed by the fact that she is helped to escape.

Understatement

The role of friendship is understated throughout the novel.

Allusions

The story alludes to the life of the Cambodian people during its civil war.

Imagery

The imagery of violent fighting is present in the novel.

Paradox

The fact that Sundara's cousin dies, yet should help her is an example of paradox in the story.

Parallelism

There is a parallel between Sundara's own experience and the lives of thousands of Cambodians.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

N/A

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