If I Survive You Literary Elements

Literary Fiction

The story takes place in the 1970s in Kingston, Jamaica, and later in Miami, Florida. It spans decades, from the 1970s through the 2008 financial crisis.

The story switches between first-person and second-person narration from the point of view of Trelawny.

Reflective, resentful, solemn

The protagonist is Trelawny and the antagonist is the oppressive conditions and racism that surround the family and prevent them from finding success.

The major conflict may be observed in Topper and Sanya's efforts and obstacles as they try to make a better life for their family in America. Their experience of being excluded from society as Black immigrants is a major cause of contention, as are the acute challenges they suffer as a result of Hurricane Andrew and the 2008 recession. The family's "exquisite, racking compulsion to survive" creates another tension because the members are motivated by desperation and must confront their limitations to progress.

The novel's climax occurs when Trelawny, the main character, claws his way out of homelessness. Trelawny is able to build out a place of security through a series of unusual, often humorous employment. This achievement is all the more remarkable given his family's experiences with political violence, social isolation, and the 2008 crisis. It is a monument to Trelawny's character as well as the family's determination to survive despite all of the challenges they have faced. This leads to a resolution as the novel's other characters such as Trelawny's brother and cousin each find a foothold in their life.

The reader can foresee impending events such as cultural differences becoming impediments between the narrator and his family, being penalized for cultural differences, and the difficulty of finding a place in American culture for a young immigrant via the initial chapters of the book. The narrator is a young immigrant with a mother who speaks a language different than English which their neighbors find unusual. The narrator is ashamed of his mother tongue and feels compelled to isolate himself from those who use it, despite his pride in becoming an American and the rights and liberties that come with it.

The protagonist's views on his struggles to find a way out of his homelessness provide the novel's understatement. When he considers reaching out to old acquaintances, he minimizes the pain of the pity they would feel as if it is not as awful as the hunger and desperation he feels. He also doesn't go into much detail regarding the violence he witnessed, just saying "the mother's heel" and "the dad's sole" and that "the little brother joined in." His understatement is a coping mechanism that allows him to detach himself from the unpleasant incident and move on from it.

The allusion in this novel is to the Sintra poster that hangs in the tiki hut. Sintra is a Jamaican woman who appeared for the poster in the 1970s, Sintra Arunte-Kynre-Davids. It is well-acknowledged as an iconic piece of art in Jamaica and has been used to symbolize Jamaica all over the world. Ox reveals that he and Sintra had a "history" and that she could easily be Cukie's mother. This allusion is employed to provide a glimpse into Ox's background and to tie him to Cukie's mother.

The author employs images to create a dramatic and emotional environment. Cukie's confusion and disorientation are reflected in the visuals as he gets to the marina. He sees fishing crews meticulously loading their boats, cages, and bait drums. His father is "everywhere and nowhere all at once." The morning sun is described as turning "everything to chowder" conjuring up images of simmering tension and bewilderment. As Cukie searches the docks for his father, he finds he is "not cooking but rotting." This evocative word choice depicts Cukie's sense of powerlessness and hopelessness.

The protagonist's feelings of pride and shame for their cultural identity are the novel's paradox. They are happy to be Americans and can wave the flag with the same zeal as their classmates. At the same time, they are ashamed of their parents and their surroundings, wanting to distance themselves from their play cousin who does not pledge loyalty to the flag in class. As a result, they are torn between embracing and rejecting their Jamaican background, a dilemma that persists throughout the essay.

The author employs parallelism to explain how a young person from a different culture must frequently navigate two cultures at the same time. The parallel structure of the sample emphasizes the decisions they must make to appease several communities. Parallels are used to compare other countries to the United States, implying the disparity between two civilizations and the emotions of superiority associated with one over the other.

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Personification is a technique for making inanimate objects appear alive by imbuing them with human attributes. This strategy is utilized to add vivid imagery and emotion to the story. The narrator, for example, personifies the front door and wonders what it would take for it to "hand over" his cash. He gives the voices in his head personalities, observing that they "hovered in his periphery" and "vanished" when he turned to seize them.