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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 2
Explanation and Analysis—All-Powerful Ocean:
In the second chapter of the novel, Robinson uses personification and metaphor to exaggerate the might of the ocean:
I expected every wave would have swallowed us up, and that every time the ship fell down, as I thought, in the trough or hollow of the sea, we should never rise more.
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—King of the Island:
Even in his most isolated periods on the island, Robinson takes comfort and pride in being the king of the island. In his journals, he uses kingship as an extended metaphor for his position of power. In his view, the island is his dominion. He even refers to one of his abodes as a castle, and another one as a country seat—"as most princes have."
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Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Ocean As Prison:
Robinson uses a number of metaphors to describe the ocean throughout the novel. To emphasize the size of its waves, for example, he calls the sea mountainous and hilly. Additionally, after having lived on the island for a few years, he compares the ocean to a prison:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] and my very heart would die within me, to think of the woods, the mountains, the desarts I was in; and how I was a prisoner lock'd up with the eternal bars and bolts of the ocean, in an uninhabited wilderness, without redemption: In the midst of the greatest composures of my mind, this would break out upon me like a storm, and make me wring my hands, and weep like a child.
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Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Island As Table:
After several years on the island, Robinson has grown increasingly content with his life. He finds community in his animals and comfort in God, and expresses his gratitude for the food, tools, and other provisions he has access to. He even begins to tell himself that he prefers this life over one among other people.
This contentment is signaled by a metaphor in which he compares the island to a table:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"How mercifully can our great Creator treat his creatures, even in those conditions in which they seem'd to be overwhelm'd in destruction. How can he sweeten the bitterest Providences, and give us cause to praise him for dungeons and prisons. What a table was here spread for me in a wilderness, where I saw nothing at first but to perish for hunger!"
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Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Providence's Checker Work:
Robinson twice refers to Providence's checker work, reflecting on his fate and God's decisions for him. Checker work is work that features a checkered pattern, where either the colors or materials vary alternately, like on a chess board. Fascinated by the frequency with which his fortunes keep changing throughout his life, Robinson uses the metaphor of "checquer work" to describe God's plans for him.
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Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Great Lamp of Instruction:
Robinson uses "the great lamp of instruction" as a metaphor for knowledge of Christianity and his own understanding of civilization. In his view, people who know of the Christian God are enlightened by the great lamp. Everyone else suffers in a world of dimness.
Unlock with LitCharts A+"And this made me very melancholy sometimes, in reflecting as the several occasions presented, how mean a use we make of all these, even though we have these powers enlighten'd by the great lamp of instruction, the spirit of God, and by the knowledge of his Word, added to our understanding; and why it has pleas'd God to hide the like saving knowledge from so many millions of souls, who if I might judge by this poor savage, would make a much better use of it than we did."
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Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—King of the Island:
Even in his most isolated periods on the island, Robinson takes comfort and pride in being the king of the island. In his journals, he uses kingship as an extended metaphor for his position of power. In his view, the island is his dominion. He even refers to one of his abodes as a castle, and another one as a country seat—"as most princes have."
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Chapter 26
Explanation and Analysis—Providence's Checker Work:
Robinson twice refers to Providence's checker work, reflecting on his fate and God's decisions for him. Checker work is work that features a checkered pattern, where either the colors or materials vary alternately, like on a chess board. Fascinated by the frequency with which his fortunes keep changing throughout his life, Robinson uses the metaphor of "checquer work" to describe God's plans for him.
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