Genre
Antiutopia
Setting and Context
Future space Colony, after the Armageddon (global destructive war)
Narrator and Point of View
The story is told from the level of the third-person narrator. He describes all the actions, boy’s feelings, Father’s speech on behalf of the 3rdperson. Some sentences seem to be both on 2nd and 3rd (actually all are on 3rd ).
Tone and Mood
The narrator is calm himself, though he is quite dynamic when picturing the motion of the ship and the inner feelings of Marvin. Marvin on behalf of the author becomes anxious, also this feeling changes into understanding. Reader may be surprised and somewhat depressed. Mood is not totally pessimistic; in the end of the story it is replaced by the optimism and hope, though it is postponed for some generations.
Protagonist and Antagonist
There is only one main character – Marvin; his father is the secondary one.
Major Conflict
It is between the society and the world around, as the destroyed planet is a result of contradicting coexistence
Climax
Climax is at the moment when Marvin with his father get to the valley and Marvin sees the Earth for the first time.
Foreshadowing
The story is short and unpredictable. It starts like a science fiction, then there is the feeling of tension during the trip, which eventuates in feeling of deep impression after seeing the planet.
Understatement
The people who caused the planet to be ruined are modern people, and everyone is responsible for such a consequence
Allusions
The story alludes to Jane Taylor’s poem “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, which Marvin read in one of his father’s books
Imagery
Imagery is widely used in description of landscapes and environment
Paradox
The paradox for Marvin was concerning the stars, when exploring the space with his father he was watching the stars and suddenly remembered the line of the poem (twinkle, twinkle, little star), and he could not comprehend why stars are supposed to twinkle as they shine steadily without any movements
Parallelism
The author provides a parallel between the beauties of the Earth, and those disasters that have happed there; this parallelism based on contrast helps to convey the main message of the work, which is to save nature
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Marvin refers to Colony, but not as a place he lives in, but to people who live there.
Personification
"Nature” may be regarded as an expression of a great power: “this little oasis of life was safe against the worst that Nature could do”.
