Genre
Philosophy; Politicial Philosophy
Setting and Context
There is no particular setting; however, written in 1775-6, the document as a whole addresses people in the American colonies and in England
Narrator and Point of View
Thomas Paine is the narrator, and the pamphlet is written from his own perspective.
Tone and Mood
The tone is optimistic, irate and challenging. The mood is one of positivity and a search for change.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Paine sees society as the protatonist and the monarch as the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The conflict most referenced in the pamphlet is the American rebellion against the English.
Climax
Paine believes America will be able to gain independence and that the rebellion will be successful.
Foreshadowing
Giving the monarch ultimate power foreshadows the mis-use of that power, and the inability of society to prevent this.
Understatement
Paine observes that government is a necessary evil, which is an understatement in that on many occasions the government have done more harm than those seeking to remove them.
Allusions
Paine alludes to the Magna Carta, which was essentially a peace treaty signed in the thirteenth century by King John of England.
Imagery
No specific examples.
Paradox
John Locke is opposed to monarchial rule, but believes in a constitutional monarchy, which Paine sees as a paradox because both essentially enable the monarch to govern unchallenged and unmonitored.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the way in which a monarch is raised to see himself as greater than everyone else, and the way in which he rules without being answerable to his subjects.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Congress is the term Paine uses to encompass the representatives of all of the colonial districts he has proposed.
Personification
No specific examples
