Genre
Satire, Coming of age
Setting and Context
1969
Narrator and Point of View
Fred 'Bogus' Trumper
POV shifts from first person to third person and the protagonist uses different names to denote himself depending upon how he feels about the situation.
Tone and Mood
Funny, sad, ironical
Protagonist and Antagonist
Trumper is the protagonist, he is also the antagonist as he avoids confrontation, and is emotionally detached.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the book comes from Trumper's affliction, which also forms the premise of the title of the book.
Climax
Highest tension is reached at the points when he is about to be discovered to be cheating on Biggie.
Foreshadowing
Merrill's death is foreshadowed as Trumper mentions that he should have named his son after him.
Understatement
Thumper's feelings for Biggie or Tulpen are often understated as he has no idea on how to express his feelings.
Allusions
Allusions are drawn to the facts that female athletes get attention for their looks rather than achievements.
Imagery
Trumper creates a rich imagery of mundane scenes by describing the details in a funny way. His trip to the urologist is one such instance.
Paradox
Biggie is suspicious of Trumper being in an extra-marital relationship but she ends up having an affair with Couth herself.
Parallelism
There are parallels drawn between Trumper's story and the ballad of Akthelt and Gunnel.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Thumper's tape recorder is said to tell stories to listeners.
