Genre

Bildungsroman (a coming-of-age novel about education or moral development)

Point of View

An older Sinclair, looking back at his childhood

Tone

Contemplative and analytic; psychological

Tense

Past

Setting

A span of ten years prior to World War I, roughly 1905–1915, in Germany—including Sinclair's hometown and the cities in which he is educated.

Foreshadowing

Since Sinclair is writing about his own experience after the fact, he is able to constantly foreshadow his future developments; this happens often with regard to ways he will think in the future, but also with events, for instance, the war

Climax

Sinclair's discovery that the woman he has been painting is Demian's mother

Falling Action

Demian runs into Sinclair, who invites him by his house to meet Eva.