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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
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Withered Trees:
During Eliezer and his father’s time at Birkenau, he compares the prisoners to “withered trees.” With this metaphor, the story illustrates how quickly the prisoners are stripped of their humanity and will to live:
Not far from us, prisoners were at work. Some were digging holes, others were carrying sand. None as much as glanced at us. We were withered trees in the heart of the desert. Behind me, people were talking. I had no desire to listen to what they were saying, or to know who was speaking and what about. Nobody dared raise his voice, even though there was no guard around. We whispered.
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Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Nothing But Ashes:
During Rosh Hashanah, many of the Jews pray together, but Eliezer no longer believes in any of the Jewish holidays or the Jewish faith altogether. With an ironic metaphor, the story depicts Eliezer’s declining relationship with God:
Unlock with LitCharts A+But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger.
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Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—A Contemplating Corpse:
In the end, Eliezer is rescued from Buchenwald, fatherless and starved. Finally able to look at himself in a mirror, Eliezer uses a metaphor to describe what he sees looking back at him:
Unlock with LitCharts A+One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto.
From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.
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