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Logos
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 Notes from Underground
Part 1, Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Blood and Champagne:
In Part 1, Chapter 7, the narrator uses both a simile and a metaphor ironically, using a combination of three figurative devices to create a single sentence. Here, he discusses the idea that man has become kinder over time because of the evolution of civilization, although it is clearly untrue, as evidenced by the sheer amount of wars going on around the world:
[...] man has become kinder as a result of civilization; consequently, he’s becoming less bloodthirsty and less inclined to war[...]. Just look around: rivers of blood are being spilt, and in the most cheerful way, as if it were champagne[....]. Civilization merely promotes a wider variety of sensations in man and . . . absolutely nothing else. And through the development of this variety man may even reach the point where he takes pleasure in spilling blood. Why, that’s even happened to him already.
Related Themes:
