Nice Work Literary Elements

A novel. This story could be considered to be a parody of an industrial novel. Taking into account that many events take place in the university, this novel could also be regarded as the campus novel.

The story starts on January 13th, in an imaginary city Rummidge, England. This is an Industry Year. According to the government, university workers should spend at least one day a week during the whole term on a factory or a plant, so that they could get an idea how industry works. It is supposed that in such a way both the university workers and the manufacturers benefit from this situation, learning needs and struggles of each other’s spheres of work. An appointed university worker is called a shadow, for he/she should follow a supervisor all day long.

The third-person point of view

The tone and mood of the story are ironic, humorous, and light. In spite of the fact that the novel reveals serious topics such as a financial crisis, family problems and racism, the story is rich in humor.

Robyn Penrose is the protagonist of the story, while Victor Wilcox is the antagonist of the story.

The major conflict of the novel is an ideological one. Robyn Penrose and Victor Wilcox are bearers of two different worldviews.

Victor Wilcox’ dismissal is the climax of the story. In spite of his hard work, diligence and willingness to sacrifice all his time and strength for the benefit of the company, he is fired.

Robyn’s constant references to “North and South” and an image of an industrial part of a city with its numerous factories at the beginning of the story foreshadow the plot of the story.

Loneliness among the elderly. The image of an old house where Vic’s “widower father still stubbornly lives” leaves a sad and depressive feeling.

The novel is really rich in allusion. Robyn Penrose is specialized in an industrial novel, that is why she constantly mentions such literary works as “North and South” by Elizabeth Gaskell, “Wuthering Heights’’ by Emily Bronte, works of Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens. James Joyce etc. The characters of the story also read “Daily Mail” and “The Guardian”.

The novel is rich in imagery, for it helps to show the differences between the characters and is needed to give a reader a view on Rummidge.

Everything nice is bad for you.
When Brian Everthorne says it, he means diets and a healthy lifestyle which forbid fat food, alcohol and cigarettes.

Seeing is believing.
Taking into account that this phrase is a proverb, parallelism is needed to make it easier for memorizing.

There are some whites there too.
Whites are an example of synecdoche which denotes Caucasian people.
A pair of highly polished half calf Oxfords
Oxfords are a metonymy which denotes a pair of shoes.

The car behind hoots impatiently.
The feelings of a driver are projected onto the car.