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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
Key Examples in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Prologue
Explanation and Analysis—Rusty Razor:
At the end of the Prologue of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou comments broadly on the difficulties of growing up as a Black girl in the rural American South. She employs metaphor in this passage to embody those difficulties:
If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Serfs and Squires:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 3, Angelou recalls the sheriff of Stamps, who once rode up to Momma's store to warn them about an upcoming KKK raid. She utilizes metaphor as a means of analyzing the sheriff's behavior:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[The used-to-be sheriff's] confidence that my uncle and every other Black man who heard of the Klan's coming ride would scurry under their houses to hide in chicken droppings was too humiliating to hear. Without waiting for Momma's thanks, he rode out of the yard, sure that things were as they should be and that he was a gentle squire, saving those deserving serfs from the laws of the land, which he condoned.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Segregation:
In Chapter 4, Angelou describes the strange and antagonistic relationship between the Black community and the White community in Stamps. She claims that in her community, segregation was total: Black people never encountered White people in their daily lives, and if they did, it was usually under uncomfortable or even dangerous circumstances. In the following excerpt from Chapter 4, Angelou uses metaphor to describe a journey she and Bailey took to the White side of town:
Unlock with LitCharts A+We were explorers walking without weapons into man-eating animals' territory.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—White Children:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 5, Angelou utilizes metaphor to describe the poor "White trash" children who sometimes come into Momma's general store:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Bailey and I would stand, solemn, quiet, in the displaced air. But if one of the playful apparitions got close to us, I pinched it. Partly out of angry frustration and partly because I didn't believe in its flesh reality.
Related Themes:
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Camel and Needle:
In Chapter 12, Angelou describes her harrowing experience with penetrative sexual assault as an eight-year-old. In the following excerpt from that chapter, Angelou utilizes biblical allusion and metaphor to characterize her experience:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Then there was the pain. A breaking and entering when even the senses are torn apart. The act of rape on an eight-year-old body is a matter of the needle giving because the camel can't. The child gives, because the body can, and the mind of the violator cannot.
Related Themes:
Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Religious Shame:
In Chapter 13, Angelou recounts her experience testifying against her abuser, Mr. Freeman. As a child who has been taught to associate sexuality with sin for her entire life, young Maya Angelou believes that she will be punished by God for Mr. Freeman's assault, despite the fact that she is a victim. Angelou illustrates her childhood shame and terror through metaphor:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Obviously I had forfeited my place in heaven forever, and I was as gutless as the doll I had ripped into pieces ages ago. Even Christ himself turned His back on Satan. Wouldn't He turn his back on me? I could feel the evilness flowing through my body and waiting, pent up, to rush off my tongue if I tried to open my mouth.
Related Themes:
