Genre
Fantasy novel
Setting and Context
The novel is written in the context of family life
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Aggressive, optimistic, perturbing
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the narrator.
Major Conflict
The conflict is that the narrator is a lonely character who his family and friends isolate.
Climax
The climax is when David and the narrator join up to form a substitute family.
Foreshadowing
The physical appearance of David in the narrator's life foreshadowed his happy ending despite leaving him in isolation in his past life.
Understatement
Parenting is understated. The narrator wonders why his family neglects him, and he admires David's family. David's parents are hardworking, caring and loving.
Allusions
The story alludes to the impact of parental neglect.
Imagery
The images of Kensington Gardens depict sight imagery because they enable readers to see the beauty and extravagance of the Royal gardens.
Paradox
David’s jealousy after realizing that his mother has another child is satirical. David fails to comprehend that his family loves him and the new baby in equal measures. On the contrary, David assumes that the new child has replaced him.
Parallelism
After realizing she has a new baby, David's feelings towards his mother parallel the narrator's feelings towards his parents.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Birds in the Kensington gardens are a metonym for beauty, adoration and love.
Personification
The birds in Kensington Gardens are personified as babies.
