Previous
Irony
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Shadow of the Cloud:
Solomon ends the introductory chapter of his memoir with a poignant metaphor, comparing slavery to a dark cloud:
Thus far the history of my life presents nothing whatever unusual—nothing but the common hopes, and loves, and labors of an obscure colored man, making his humble progress in the world. But now I had reached a turning point in my existence—reached the threshold of unutterable wrong, and sorrow, and despair. Now had I approached within the shadow of the cloud, into the thick darkness whereof I was soon to disappear, thenceforward to be hidden from the eyes of all my kindred, and shut out from the sweet light of liberty, for many a weary year.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Children’s Musical Voices:
Near the beginning of the memoir, when Solomon is describing his life before being kidnapped and sold into slavery, he uses a metaphor to capture his relationship to his children:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They filled our house with gladness. Their young voices were music in our ears. Many an airy castle did their mother and myself build for the little innocents. When not at labor I was always walking with them, clad in their best attire, through the streets and groves of Saratoga. Their presence was my delight.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Slave Pen:
Solomon takes the time to describe the inside of the slave pen where he is confined, an example of the use of imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The yard extended rearward from the house about thirty feet. In one part of the wall there was a strongly ironed door, opening into a narrow, covered passage, leading along one side of the house into the street. The doom of the colored man, upon whom the door leading out of that narrow passage closed, was sealed […] Underneath the roof there was a crazy loft all round, where slaves, if so disposed, might sleep at night, or in inclement weather seek shelter from the storm. It was like a farmer’s barnyard in most respects, save it was so constructed that the outside world could never see the human cattle that were herded there.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—People as Animals:
Throughout 12 Years a Slave, racist white Southerners make it clear that they see Black people as less than human. When Bass asks Epps about the difference between white men and Black men, for example, Epps uses a racist metaphor to compare Black men to animals:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Now, in the sight of God, what is the difference, Epps, between a white man and a black one?”
“All the difference in the world,” replied Epps. “You might as well ask what the difference is between a white man and a baboon.”
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—As a Drowning Man:
When Bass finishes his work on Epps’s house and it’s time for him to leave the plantation, Solomon is filled with despair about losing his friend, and communicates this via a simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I had clung to him as a drowning man clings to the floating spar, knowing if it slips from his grasp he must forever sink beneath the waves. The all-glorious hope, upon which I had laid such eager hold, was crumbling to ashes in my hands. I felt as if sinking down, down, amidst the bitter waters of Slavery, from the unfathomable depths of which I should never rise again.
Related Themes:
