Genre
Short Stories; Short Fiction
Setting and Context
Various settings, time period ranging from mid 1990s to early 2000s
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is the author and the point of view is that of the "outsider" looking in.
Tone and Mood
Concerning and frightening; wary; amoral, violent
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists in the majority of the stories seem to be the more powerless character wanting to do the right thing, with the antagonists being the powerful characters abusing their power.
Major Conflict
There is conflict in many of the stories, for example, in 'My Chivalric Fiasco", Ted and Murray are in conflict because Murray has raped Martha and Ted wants to reveal this to others, when he does so he is fired.
In "Al Roosten", Al is in conflict with Larry but wishes he was not, and imagines a world in which the two might be friends.
Climax
In "My Chivalric Fiasco" the climax is Ted's revelation that Martha was raped by Murray; however, in the majority of the stories the climax is the death of a character.
Foreshadowing
Seeing Bo tied up in the backyard foreshadows Maria's change of heart about doing business with Callie; she decides not to purchase the puppy which foreshadows his death.
Understatement
Ray Abnesti calls himself a "pharmaceutical developer" which is an understatement since it underplays the fact he experiments on prisoners to develop new drugs.
Allusions
"My Chivalric Fiasco" alludes to the present day theme parks that have a Medieval theme such as Knights Tale.
Imagery
The author creates wild and colorful images of the pole in "Sticks" which allow the reader to visualize the steady decline in the mental health of the narrator's father the more outlandish the decorations become.
Paradox
Ted is given the job of pacer to keep him quiet about the rape, but after he is given the KnightLyfe drug to make him a more authentic knight character he develops such a strong sense of chivalry that he reports the rape anyway.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Ray Abnesti in the "Escape from Spiderhead" story and Don Murray in the "My Chivalric Fiasco" story; both see nothing wrong with using drugs to control and to alter the minds of those who are not powerful like them.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"Semplica Girls" refers to the individual women who are trafficked with the purpose of being a human ornament.
Personification
No examples
