Empire Falls Literary Elements

Empire Falls Literary Elements

Genre

Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction

Setting and Context

Present-day in the fictional town of Empire Falls in Maine.

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person narration

Tone and Mood

Humorous, Poignant, Heartbreaking

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist: Miles Roby; Antagonist: The secret vendettas and feuds with neighbors and townspeople..

Major Conflict

Due to unavoidable circumstances, Miles has ended up working his entire life at the Empire Grill not pursuing his education and life outside the small town. Unlike people in his life Miles is not crafty and manipulative but he is usually a victim of personal vendettas and disputes. Most individuals in the town harbor past traumas and private pains that involve other townspeople or family.

Climax

The climax happens when John reaches a breaking point and goes on a shooting spree in his school murdering fellow students.

Foreshadowing

So, John,” her former boyfriend is saying, “how’s your grandmother? She doing okay?”

In the statement, Zack is bullying John by mentioning his grandmother’s wellbeing which foreshadows the discovery of his grandmother’s corpse.

Understatement

Miles constantly understates his sentiments towards how poorly other townspeople treat him including his former wife and childhood bully.

Allusions

The novel alludes to trauma and mental illness from past ordeals and bullying and consequently the occurrence of school shooting sprees.

Imagery

“All of the rooms on the bottom floor were large and high-ceilinged, with tall, uncurtained windows that allowed passersby a glimpse of the privileged life inside. The Rectum’s dining room, which fronted the street, had an oak dining table long enough to seat twenty guests…”

Paradox

Mrs. Whiting’s generosity and warmness towards Miles is just manipulation as a form of revenge.

Parallelism

N/A

Metonymy and Synecdoche

“I’m going to take you out of where you are and put you in Mount Calvary with the damn Christians, let you drink the Blood of the Lamb for a while…”

Personification

“A milky mist had rolled in off the ocean, amplifying sounds, including the far-off ringing of a buoy.”

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