63 pages 2 hours read

Anne Tyler

French Braid

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Literary Devices

Alternating Protagonists in Omniscient Narration

Chief among the literary devices Tyler employs in French Braid is the use of alternating protagonists. Each of the eight chapters, though necessarily told through the words of an omniscient narrator, relates the incidents that occur during a specific time period, always in a different decade. Each of the recurring characters ages appropriately, and Tyler captures the ambiance of the changing culture as she moves the Garretts through 60 years. The use of different protagonists allows the author to reveal to readers how the family appears through the eyes of each individual protagonist. While the family is rife with disharmony and disapproval, the differing worldviews make clear Tyler’s view that none of the characters has the single correct perception.

While Tyler tells the story from the viewpoint of different protagonists, often the real main character of a chapter is not the protagonist but another family member upon whom the protagonist focuses. For example, when Tyler writes of the family’s one vacation through the perspective of Alice, the real drama in the chapter centers on the romantic entanglement of Lily. While the author looks at the Easter luncheon of April 1982 through the eyes of Lily, the main character of the chapter is blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text

Related Titles

By Anne Tyler

SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Anne Tyler
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Anne Tyler
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Anne Tyler
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Anne Tyler
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Anne Tyler
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Anne Tyler
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Anne Tyler
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Anne Tyler
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Anne Tyler
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Anne Tyler
Guide cover placeholder