Genre
Domestic fiction
Setting and Context
Sent in Toronto
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is awestruck, and the tone is tense.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Maggie, and the antagonist is Merris.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between Jon and Maggie. Maggie ends the marriage without good reason, and she ends up regretting it.
Climax
The climax comes when Maggie realizes she should not have ended her marriage.
Foreshadowing
Maggie’s passion for freedom foreshadowed the divorce between her and Jon.
Understatement
Maggie's words ‘really good, actually good’ are an understatement. In actuality, she is miserable.
Allusions
The novel alludes to modern woman’s independence in Toronto.
Imagery
The description of the protagonist's first days after divorce depicts a sense of sight. Maggie says, "The first morning without him, I swear to god I woke up crying. My pillow was wet, at any rate, and instead of flipping it over or changing the pillowcase, I rolled out of bed and fell heavily on the floor." The imagery signifies Maggie's regret for forcing her husband out of wedlock.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Maggie ends up suffering after divorcing her husband, which contradicts her aspirations of independence and leisure.
Parallelism
n/a
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
Maggie personifies the dog.
