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The Shipping News

 E. Annie Proulx
 

Key Facts

 
full title ·  The Shipping News
 
author ·  E. Annie Proulx
 
type of work ·  Novel
 
genre ·  Hero quest, regionalism, novel of social critique
 
language ·  English
 
time and place written ·  Early 1990's, Newfoundland and Vermont
 
date of first publication ·  1994
 
publisher ·  Simon and Schuster
 
narrator ·  Omniscient
 
climax ·  The major climax of the novel occurs at the scene of Jack's wake, when the dead man begins to cough.
 
protagonist ·  Quoyle
 
antagonist ·  Guy Quoyle, Tert Card, Nolan Quoyle, Petal Bear, social change
 
setting (time) ·  Early 1990's
 
setting (place) ·  Mostly Newfoundland
 
point of view ·  Omniscient
 
falling action ·  Dennis and Quoyle follow Jack's ambulance to the hospital, where Dennis hopes to take over his father's lobster license; Wavey and Quoyle get married.
 
tense ·  Recent Past
 
foreshadowing ·  The white dog and knotted twine foreshadow the cousin's presence in Newfoundland; Bunny's dream foreshadows the destruction of the family house; Quoyle's kiss foreshadows his marriage with Wavey.
 
tone ·  Darkly comic
 
themes ·  Social and economic change, ancestry and familial ties, regional lifestyle
 
motifs ·  Oral literature, "how-to" genre, knots and tying
 
symbols ·  Knots and tying, silver, bright colors, family house, white dog
 
 
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