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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 10: Leonie
Explanation and Analysis—Bitter Marrow:
As Mam lies dying, she asks Leonie to carry out the proper religious rituals so her spirit won’t remain trapped as a ghost on earth. Mam is terrified of what will happen if Leonie doesn’t help her, and the metaphors she uses here reflect that fear. Mam says:
I don’t want to be empty breath. Bitter at the marrow of my bones.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Memory Bruise:
Leonie recalls the effect of a dream in which Jojo, Michael, and Kayla drown while she watches, unable to save them. When she describes the dream, she uses a metaphor to explain that she feels the pain the dream caused even after waking:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It stays with me, a bruise in the memory that hurts when I touch it.
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Chapter 11: Jojo
Explanation and Analysis—Death's Mouth:
As Mam lies dying, Jojo feels torn between needing to ask her something and knowing that speaking may exhaust her. Ward uses metaphor and personification to show how intensely Jojo fears that asking Mam for anything might bring her death closer:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I have to ask even though I know the telling hurts her. Even though I feel like speaking’s bringing her leaving closer. Death, a great mouth set to swallow.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14: Leonie
Explanation and Analysis—Sorrow is Food:
Leonie is struggling to take in the horror of Mam’s passing, and she reflects on her sorrow while trying to make sense of the world around her. Ward uses a metaphor to show how intensely Leonie feels the weight of grief in her body after Mam’s death:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Sorrow is food swallowed too quickly, caught in the throat, making it nearly impossible to breathe.
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Chapter 15: Jojo
Explanation and Analysis—The Wrong Keys:
Richie speaks softly to Jojo about the dead Black folks forced to stay behind after dying at Parchman at the hands of enslavers, and in other acts of racial violence. The metaphor Ward uses here expands on Richie’s description of the spirits who remain trapped by the violence they suffered:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"There's so many," Richie says. His voice is molasses slow. "So many of us," he says. "Hitting. The wrong keys. Wandering against. The song."
Related Themes:
