Genre
Autobiography
Setting and Context
The action begins in the 1920s in America and continues until the present time. Throughout the autobiography, the action takes place in various cities all over America and also in a few counties in Europe.
Narrator and Point of View
The action is told from the perspective of a first-person subjective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood used in the autobiography is a neutral one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist is represented by the leader of the Harlem Renaissance movement.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is an internal one and is between the narrator's desire to become successful and to achieve his dreams and the insecurities caused by his childhood trauma.
Climax
The autobiography reaches its climax when the narrator returns back to America in order to get a higher education.
Foreshadowing
N/A
Understatement
Langston criticizes his father at the beginning of the book because he is an alcoholic who can't control his anger. The narrator claims he will do everything in his power to avoid ending up like his father, claiming he could never forgive himself if he were to have the same behavior. This however is an understatement because the narrator eventually becomes the split image of his father, inheriting all his vices and faults.
Allusions
The main allusion we find here is the idea that money does not bring forth happiness but rather causes unhappiness.
Imagery
One of the most important images appears at the beginning of the autobiography when the narrator describes a public demonstration organized by the black community. The reason why this image is important is that it represents the first moment when the narrator no longer felt powerless because he was an African-American.
Paradox
One of the most paradoxical ideas is the fact that the narrator decides to return back to America even though he described the European society as being less racist.
Parallelism
The narrator draws a parallel between the American and European populations. This parallel is an important one because it has the purpose of transiting the idea that the European population is more artistic and appreciates the fine arts a lot more.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The books are used in the autobiography as a general term through which the narrator makes reference to the idea of freedom.
Personification
We have a personification in the line "those shelves protected me and guided me".
