Shane: Other Literary Devices

Genre

Young adult, Fiction, Old West Fiction

Narrator

Bob Starrett

Point of view

First person, reflecting the point of view of Bob Starrett

Tone

Grave; serious; stoic.

Tense

Past

Setting (time)

The book begins in the summer of 1889 and continues the next year.

Setting (place)

The Starrett's farm in the wilderness of Wyoming

Protagonist

Shane; Joe Starrett

Major conflict

The Starretts' refusal to sell their land to Fletcher and the resulting confrontation with Fletcher and his men

Rising action

Shane's decision to ride into town to take care of Chris after realizing that his decision not to fight was plaguing all of the homesteaders, especially Joe

Climax

The fight in which Fletcher's men gang up against Shane; some also consider the fight between Shane and Stark Wilson as the climax.

Falling action

After the fight with Wilson, Shane's brief conversation with Bob about having to leave because killing "marks" a man, no matter the circumstances

Foreshadowing

Bob uncovering Shane's particularly dangerous looking gun; Shane's many predictions about Fletcher's tactics—such as predicting that Fletcher would goad Ernie and then Joe; Joe and Shane's unending wariness

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