Genre
Horror, Short Story/Novella
Setting and Context
Set in Bridgton, Maine, when a mist has descended on the town after a huge thunderstorm
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is David Drayton, who is also the protagonist, and the story is told from his point of view.
Tone and Mood
Terrifying and foreboding in tone, the mood is frantic and threatening.
Protagonist and Antagonist
David Drayton is the protagonist, Mrs Carmody the antagonist.
Major Conflict
There is conflict between the human characters stuck in the supermarket and the monstrous creatures in the mist who want only to kill them. There is also conflict within the supermarket between Mrs Carmody and David as she believes that there should be a human sacrifice made to appease God, and David disagrees.
Climax
David, Ollie, Amanda and Billy escape the supermarket; Ollie is killed, but the others make it to the car, and drive to safety.
Foreshadowing
The descent of the mist foreshadows the terrible events that are to come.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The plot alludes to military installations and the secret work that is carried out in such places.
Imagery
The imagery is very vivid and almost reminiscent of a child's nightmares in the creatures that are so well described. The reader is able to visualize each monster but also to imagine the sounds of the mist and the smell of death as well.
Paradox
Mrs Carmody claims to want to save lives but wants to make two human sacrifices as well.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the dangers outside in the mist and the dangers inside the supermarket posed by Mrs Carmody and her followers.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The creatures is the way in which the author refers to each of the individual monsters in the mist.
Personification
N/A
