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At a Glance:
Full Title Out of Africa
Author Isak Dinesen
In-depth Facts:
Type of work Memoir
Genre Mythic memoir; colonial travel literature
Language English
Time and place written Denmark, 1935–1936
Date of first publication 1837
Publisher Putnam
Narrator Baroness Karen Blixen
Point of View First Person
Tone Usually light and storytelling until the final section when it turns melancholic
Tense Past tense
Setting (time) 1913–1930
Setting (place) Near Nairobi, Kenya, Africa
Protagonist Baroness Karen Blixen
Major conflict The narrator's struggle to keep her coffee farm
Rising action Attempts to grow coffee; Arrival of Old Knudsen; Hunting expeditions in Africa; Accidental shooting between boys; Visitors on the Farm
Climax The realization that the narrator must sell her farm
Falling Action Selling of farm; Death of Denys Finch-Hatton; Death of Chief Kinanjui; Departure from Africa
Themes Aristocracy Africa as Paradise; Separation of the races; Aristocracy
Motifs God; Dying at Will; Storytelling
Symbols Lions; Old Knudsen; Lulu
Foreshadowing Predictions of Denys' death; Statement that the farm was too high to grow coffee; Seeing a herd of wild dogs; Account of the giraffe being shipped to Europe
