Genre
Bildungsroman
Setting and Context
New York during the 1980s
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is unnamed but we are told that he is a young boy.
Tone and Mood
The tone of the novel is sometimes humorous but is often quite melancholy and upsetting.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the young boy, and the antagonists are his father and sometimes his older brothers.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel is the young boy coming to terms with his sexuality.
Climax
The climax of the novel is when the young boy has a violent outbreak after his writing is discovered.
Foreshadowing
The narrator suggests his homosexuality is foreshadowed by his actions as a child.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The author alludes to Plato at the beginning of the novel, quoting The Laws.
Imagery
At the beginning of the novel, Torres uses imagery to describe his home life, and the poverty they endured. For example, "we knocked the butt ends of our forks against the table, tapped our spoons against our empty bowls; we were hungry."
Paradox
The narrator's father often engages in paradoxical behaviour, acting happy one second and violent the next.
Parallelism
The younger brother is paralleled with his older brothers, emphasizing the differences between them. For example, the younger brother does not have the same aggressive tendencies.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Fire is described as "consuming" their brains.
