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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
Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—Dialect and Masculinity:
While riding the bus to school as a young boy, Little Dog becomes an enticing figure for burgeoning bullies. As a small, non-White child who does not conform to traditional American notions of masculinity, Little Dog is sadly a prime target for the homophobic violence of his peers. In the following excerpt from Part 1, Vuong utilizes metaphor and dialect to characterize this brutal scene:
“Don’t you ever say nothin’? Don’t you speak English?” He grabbed my shoulder and spun me to face him. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”
He was only nine but had already mastered the dialect of damaged American fathers. The boys crowded around me, sensing entertainment. I could smell their fresh-laundered clothes, the lavender and lilac in the softeners.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Rot of the Harvest:
In Part 1, Little Dog reflects on his grandmother's sexual trauma. During the American invasion of Vietnam, Lan did what she needed to in order to survive and take care of Mai and Rose—namely, sex work. In the following passage, a modern-day Lan recalls this period in her life with shame, referencing a metaphor Lan's mother would use to humiliate her daughter:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“I never asked to be a whore,” [Lan] sobbed. “A girl who leaves her husband is the rot of a harvest,” she repeated the proverb her mother told her. “A girl who leaves . . .” She rocked from side to side, eyes shut, face lifted toward the ceiling, like she was seventeen again.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Glass Walls:
In the following instance of metaphor from Part 1, Little Dog considers the animosity he feels from school-bus bullies:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Speak English,” said the boy with a yellow bowl cut, his jowls flushed and rippling.
The cruelest walls are made of glass, Ma. I had the urge to break through the pane and leap out the window.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Countries:
In the following excerpt, Little Dog reflects on the migratory patterns of monarch butterflies, utilizing both metaphor and allegory to craft an image of generational trauma:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The monarchs that fly south will not make it back north. Each departure, then, is final. Only their children return; only the future revisits the past. What is a country but a borderless sentence, a life? [....] What is a country but a life sentence?
Related Themes:
Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—Sorry:
In the following example of metaphor from Part 2, Little Dog discusses the intricate racial politics at play in his mother's nail salon:
Unlock with LitCharts A+In the nail salon, sorry is a tool one uses to pander until the word itself becomes currency. It no longer merely apologizes, but insists, reminds: I'm here, right here, beneath you. It is the lowering of oneself so that the client feels right, superior, and charitable.
Related Themes:
