Analysis

This analysis of the short story “Leftovers” by Nickolas Butler will help you answer your assignment and give you some extra points about the text.

In what follows, we will outline the plot structure, looking at narrative elements such as title, the use of flashback, and of typical plot elements.

We will focus on the main character of the short story, Mason, and at how his characterization relates to the setting, point of view, main theme, and conflict.

We will present the setting of the story, Mason’s mother’s house, but also at the social setting elements the story explores: contemporary culture, marriage, and mother-son relationships.

We will look at the third-person narrator and the use of Mason’s point of view to convey the story.

We will also discuss the language used by the writer, considering the choice of words and the use of devices like imagery, antithesis, repetition, similes, metaphors, rhetorical questions, and symbols.

Read the full analysis of “Leftovers” in the next pages!