Genre
A short story
Setting and Context
The events of the story take place on Christmas Eve in the beginning of the 19th century.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is written from the third-person of view. It is told by an omniscient narrator.
Tone and Mood
The narrator’s tone is calm. It seems that he enjoys telling this story immensely. Mood is mysterious.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Marie and the Nutcracker are the protagonists whilst Lady Mouserinks and her sons are the antagonists.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is person vs. obstacles. Marie has to fight with her family’s mistrust whilst the Nutcracker has to deal with difficult the horrible spell and numerous enemies.
Climax
The Nutcracker’s victory is the climax of the story.
Foreshadowing
“On Christmas Eve, the children of Doctor Stahlbaum were not allowed into the family room, let alone the adjoining living room.”
This sentence doesn’t only build anticipation, but foreshadows the events of the story. Why were children not allowed? What was waiting for them there? Readers guess that there is something special behind the closed doors and they are not wrong.
Understatement
“So,” Fritz said dramatically, “then nothing can be changed? If that’s how it is, then all your pretty little people don’t mean much to me.”
Fritz takes presents he gets for granted. He doesn’t know what gratitude is.
Allusions
N/A
Imagery
The images of the king and other characters are presented in the story
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
“Ding dong, ding dong.
I promise you, he won’t last long.”
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“We need a quick eye and a quicker mind, so I’m trusting the cavalry and artillery to you”. (A quick eye is metonymy that means an observant person).
Personification
“When one of the Stahlbaum family clocks was sick and couldn’t sing, Godfather Drosselmeier would come and take off his glass wig and yellow coat and put on a blue apron.”
