Genre
Historical fiction
Setting and Context
The action takes place during the Great Depression in various cities and towns all over America.
Narrator and Point of View
The action is told from the perspective of a third-person omniscient and objective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood is a neutral one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is William Music and the antagonists are the Communists.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between communist ideology and the democratic one.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when the main character sides with the Communists.
Foreshadowing
The description of the Great Depression at the beginning of the story foreshadows the main character’s struggle to find work.
Understatement
When the main character interacts with the communists for the first time they are described and presented as being the vilest creatures on this earth. This is however an understatement and the narrator and the characters who were anti-communists change their beliefs quickly and even side with the communists.
Allusions
One of the main allusions we find here is the idea that power will always corrupt even the most honest and humble person.
Imagery
One of the most important images described in the story is that of the miners coming to the surface after a long day at work. This image is important because it helps the reader understand just how difficult it was to work in the mines.
Paradox
One of the main paradoxes is the story is the way in which many characters who were in the beginning anti-communists change their beliefs in a short period of time.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The mines are used here as a general term to make reference to human suffering and misery.
Personification
We have a personification in the sentence “the pickaxes weighted down the miners and screamed in their ears”.
