Picnic at Hanging Rock
by Joan Lindsay

Picnic at Hanging Rock: Metaphors 2 key examples

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 Picnic at Hanging Rock

Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Spreading Pattern:

At the start of Chapter 10, the narrator takes stock of the story so far: "The reader taking a bird’s eye view of events since the picnic will have noted how various individuals on its outer circumference have somehow become involved in the spreading pattern." This pattern becomes an extended metaphor in the novel, which—as it's consistently described as "spreading" or somehow in motion—foreshadows the continued consequences of the fateful day at Hanging Rock. As the novel moves towards its unresolved end, the mysterious pattern of death and destruction continues to unfold.

Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Chamber of Horrors:

Irma's return to Appleyard College in Chapter 12 causes one of the novel's most disturbing scenes. A sort of nightmarish panic is triggered when Irma stops by the gymnasium, "commonly known to the boarders as the Chamber of Horrors." To evoke and draw out this panic, Lindsay uses imagery, metaphor, and simile.

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