Rising Action: Caroline Gill goes to the institution and cannot bear to leave Phoebe in a place so dreadful, so she decides to take her home with her. She meets a truck driver, Al, who helps her get home safely with Phoebe.Exposition: David Henry, a doctor, is forced to deliver his own twins during a snowstorm. His son, Paul, is born healthy while his second child, Phoebe, is born with Down Syndrome. David decides in that moment to tell his wife that their daughter died at birth and gives the child to Caroline Gill, the nurse, to take to an institution. |
Climax: Caroline Gill makes the decision to move to Pittsburgh and care for Phoebe, while Norah believes that she is dead and is caring for her growing son Paul, who loves music. David is haunted by the decision he made of giving away Phoebe and there is a “wall” that is built in his family between himself, Norah, and Paul.The Memory Keeper's Daughter By Kim Edwards
|
Falling Action: David Henry and Caroline exchange letters over the years and he sends Phoebe money so that she may be well taken care off and Caroline sends David pictures of Phoebe while she is growing. All this while Norah and David drift apart, and Norah having multiple affairs because of it. David knows that his decision affected his entire family.Denoument: David Henry dies without telling Norah or Paul the truth about Phoebe. Caroline Gill visits Norah and tells her the truth and Norah is upset and shocked at David’s decision. She and Paul visit Phoebe in Pittsburgh and decide that they want to get to know her better. |
||
Theme(s): Secrets, Lies, The American Dream Tone: Toward the very beginning the tone was tender. The newlywed couple were very affectionate towards each other and David pampers Norah like a princess while she is pregnant. After Norah has given birth the happiness of the novel dwindles downward and becomes extremely depressing. After David tells Norah their second child Phoebe has died at birth, Norah feels an emptiness and cannot find closure. Mood: Depressed David pushes his wife away as she tries to keep Phoebe alive in her heart and soul and feels that Norah should leave it in the past. David's regret ruins their marriage and tears their family apart slowly. Literary Devices Similes: "There was an unnatural welling quiet in the nearly empty lot, a silence that seemed to originate from the cold itself, to expand in the air and flow outward like ripples from a stone thrown in water.” (Pg.21) "He had not grown into it yet, he still wore it like a wristband, something that might easily slip off and disappear.” (Pg.40) “…Often, still, her sense of loss stirred up, like flames out of embers.” (Pg. 75) Metaphors: "Until Caroline startlingly, had arrived, a flower blooming up through snow.” “He looked back on the afternoon and saw it gone, condensed into a memory no larger than that drop of rain, and the sky already nearly dark.” (Pg.211) Personification: “Crocuses shouted purple and white against the bright grass.” (Pg.101) “Time and again he had stood here with his toes suspended above the dark skin of the river…” (Pg. 259) Flashbacks: “The doctor had felt transported back in time. His sister had been born with a heart defect and had grown very slowly…” (Pg. 17) “She half dreamed of her mother, preparing a holiday meal while her father worked in the woodshop.” (Pg.24) Imagery: “The baby slept, a fierce, intent, newborn sleep, it’s face clenched, its eyes only slits, the nose and chin mere bumps.” (Pg.21) Significance of Literary Devices Throughout the novel the author Kim Edwards generously applies similes. She uses objects that are familiar to the audience such as nature, animals, and the human body (mainly because one of the main characters David is an orthopedic surgeon). Since the married couple David and Norah deals with such overwhelming dilemmas (dealing with depression and the "lost" of their child Phoebe) , the average reader would not fully comprehend the pain the characters must endure. Having an author that vividly describes the emptiness and sorrow through literary devices helps the reader not only imagine what the author intends but have a fuller understanding on the effect the loss of a child has on parents.
Character deconstruction for protagonist: The main character in the novel is David Henry. He is a static character, he is faced with keeping a deep secret from his wife and his son. Therefore, He is a very mysterious character in the book and does not change much throughout the story. |
||||
