Genre
Science Fiction
Setting and Context
The novel is set in 1901 in the context of an expedition.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Apprehensive, buoyant, unwavering
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Adam Jeffson.
Major Conflict
Jeffson realizes that he is the only human being surviving because all people except him are dead. As a result of self-realization, Jeffson loses his mind.
Climax
The climax is when Jeffson meets a beautiful young woman in the streets and later falls in love. The two becomes Adam and Eve of the new generation.
Foreshadowing
The priest's preaching against boarding the ship foreshadowed Jeffson's loneliness in the coming days.
Understatement
Jeffson understated the preacher’s warning not to board the ship. When he did, he realized that all people inside and the animals were dead except him.
Allusions
The story is an allusion to humanity and prophecies.
Imagery
The images of the dead animals and the crew, the dead people in the streets and the appearance of the naked young beautiful woman depict sight imagery.
Paradox
The paradox of the naked woman walking in the street alone is evident in the text. Unlike earlier expectations of Jeffson that she was not meaningful, she later became civilized and convinced him to stay and believe in God. The later fell in love and brought up a new generation.
Parallelism
Jeffson and the naked woman’s love parallels the biblical story of creation.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The gold palace built by Jeffson is personified to represent vanity.
