Christiana Baker Kline: A Literary Analysis

Many good authors use foreshadowing as a way to give hints on what will happen later in a book. Christiana Baker Kline uses words, these words were chosen because she likes the way that they sound. These words all have an impact on the characters in the book. These words foreshadow certain important moments in these characters lives. To foreshadow a strict woman Christiana Baker Kline uses the word harridan. This woman is Mrs. Byrne, her and her husband are the first people to take Niamh in. Mr. Byrne enjoyed talking to Niamh, who is now Dorthy, about his Irish history, but that is one thing Mrs. Byrne disapproved of greatly. Mrs. Byrne was so disturbed by Dorthy’s Irish past that she almost made her take off the Irish claddagh that she was wearing. She puts Dorthy to work right away in her sewing room but nothing she does is good enough “If it were up to me, I would contact the committee immediately and return you for a replacement” (Kline 98-99). One thing Mrs. Byrne always made sure to do was lock the fridge to make sure nobody snuck a snack while she wasn’t looking. Harridan is the perfect word to foreshadow Mrs. Byrne. …show more content…
In Molly’s life she has foster parents, Dina and Ralph. Dina resents Molly for living with them, she can always find a reason to complain about Molly. “Buying all these fancy vegetables is eating up my salary” (Kline 207). Ralph replies with “I don’t think it’s that much more” (Kline 207). Molly is a vegetarian and uses different vegetables to supplement meat. Also Dina accuses her of being a common thief “She’s a thief plain and simple” (Kline 208). And Ralph tries to take her side, but in the end will always side with his wife. “She almost feels bad for him, the pusillanimous wretch”(Kline 209). Molly wishes that ralph would defend her, and every time he doesn’t she just gets more