Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
Uptown New York, early 1950s
Narrator and Point of View
Third person narrator, telling the story from a neutral point of view.
Tone and Mood
Sympathetic, somewhat sad.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Leo is the protagonist, his loneliness the antagonist.
Major Conflict
There is conflict at the start of the relationship between Leo and Salzman over what he should be looking for in a potential wife.
Climax
There is no real "aha" moment in the novel that might represent a real climax; for Leo, the climax of the novel is his becoming a rabbi after four years of study, and the climax of the plot occurs when Leo realizes he needs Stella to love him if he is ever to be happy.
Foreshadowing
Leo's realization that he is lonely foreshadows a sort of sad desperation in him and also foreshadows his changing his perspective about love.
Understatement
No specific examples; the novel is remarkably understated throughout in its use of language and descriptions.
Allusions
The author alludes to many real-life places in New York in his description of Leo's neighborhood.
Imagery
Much of the imagery surrounds the appearance of each of the characters. For example, the way in which Leo is described leads us to imagine a pale, unhealthy looking young man, with hollow cheeks and serious expression.
Paradox
Salzman is a matchmaker, which would seem to be a happy kind of job, yet his defining feature is his obvious unhappiness.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Salzman and Leo in that they both want the relationship with Stella to work out, albeit for rather different reasons.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The congregation is the term used for each of the members within it.
Personification
No specific examples.
