Genre
A novel, a fictionalized biography
Setting and Context
The events of the story involve the protagonist and his friends’ 17-day-journey on a cycle to Northern California.
Narrator and Point of View
The novel is written from the first point of view. The protagonist is the narrator.
Tone and Mood
The narrator’s tone is thoughtful when mood is mysterious.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The narrator is both a protagonist and an antagonist at the same time.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is person vs. Self. The narrator struggles to reconcile with his past.
Climax
The moment when the protagonist accepts his past in the climax of the story.
Foreshadowing
“Chris and I are traveling to Montana with some friends riding up ahead, and maybe headed farther than that. Plans are deliberately indefinite, more to travel than to arrive anywhere. We are just vacationing.”
Understatement
“You don’t suppose he’ll get lost out there.”
“No, he’ll holler if he is.”
Allusions
The novel alludes to the works of Greek philosophers.
Imagery
See the imagery section
Paradox
The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth,'' and so it goes away.
Parallelism
“And he pumps and pumps and jumps and pumps and I don't know what more to say.”
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
“Cold fronts are violent and when they are from the southwest, they are the most violent.”
