Killing Mr. Griffin Literary Elements

Suspense / Young Adult

Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Third-person narration from the perspective of an omniscient narrator.

Suspenseful and Haunting

The protagonist is Susan McConnell and the antagonist is Mark Kinney.

Several students in the class resent Mr. Griffin for his approach to teaching and disciplining the pupils. As such, they execute a plan to scare the teacher but it goes awry after he has a cardiac arrest and dies.

The climax occurs when they find Mr. Griffin has passed on and attempt to cover up the evidence.

Susan affirming that something horrible will occur foreshadows the death of Mr. Griffin.

The class students understate the act of kidnapping and scaring their teacher.

“When it was over and we started to leave, he started talking about Hamlet’s feeling of guilt over Ophelia’s death and whether or not that really changed him as a person.”

The narrative alludes to the story of Hamlet through the assignment Mr. Griffin gave to the students.

“Mark was leaning against the trunk of a tree, smoking a joint, and the sweet, heavy scent of pot blended with the incense of the sun-soaked pine needles. Betsy was lying on the blanket, her blue-jeaned knees drawn up into little pointed peaks. Her eyes were closed, and she looked totally at peace. Jeff was sprawled next to her, on his back. He was dreamily studying the line of a pine branch stretching squarely over his head. Susan took off her glasses and laid them on her stomach, and the world went soft and unfocused around her.”

Kathy Griffin, someone who is supposed to loathe Susan for her involvement in her husband’s murder, saves her in the house.

The narrative parallels Susan and Mark as students on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of morality and intelligence.

“…his Windbreaker hung over one shoulder”

Windbreaker is a metonymy for a wind-resistant jacket.

“The sun will be pouring through the window onto the rug and outside in the elm tree birds will be singing.”