Genre
Satire
Setting and Context
America in the early 1990s.
Narrator and Point of View
An unnamed, third-person omniscient narrator tells the story.
Tone and Mood
The tone is bizarre; the mood is hilarious.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Tender is the protagonist; the cult is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel occurs when the members of Creedish Cult all learn the way to be a servant to the entire human race.
Climax
The climax of the story is reached when the cult members are instructed to commit suicide together.
Foreshadowing
The coming of the sign is foreshadowed by the scripture that they all heavily follow.
Understatement
The role of control over each other is understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
The story alludes to the life of a cult member and the adaptation to the modern world.
Imagery
The imagery of rituals and sacrifices is present in the novel.
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the devotion of the members and their initiation process.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The worries of the cult are personified through the ropes that they wear.
