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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
Key Examples in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
Section 1
Explanation and Analysis—Mary's Mire:
In Section 1, Twain gives the reader a tantalizing taste of some old Hadleyburg drama that unfolded an undisclosed amount of time before the story begins: Edward Richards reveals to his wife, Mary, that he could have saved the town's reverend, Burgess, from some unnamed disgrace but chose not to for fear of the town turning on him.
Mary struggles to balance her instinct for honesty against her gratitude for her husband's dishonesty—after all, it saved their reputation—and Twain uses metaphorical language to convey how this tension roils inside her:
"I—I don’t think it would have done for you to—to— One mustn’t—er—public opinion—one has to be so careful—so—” It was a difficult road, and she got mired; but after a little she got started again. “It was a great pity, but—Why we couldn’t afford it, Edward—we couldn’t indeed. Oh, I wouldn’t have had you do it for anything!"
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Calcified Honesty:
In "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," Twain presents honesty as the primary virtue of Hadleyburg's citizens. As the story progresses, a motif emerges that presents this honesty in terms of the contrast between its strength as the town's reputation and its fragility as an actual trait in its citizens. This motif is established through a number of metaphors, the first of which occurs in the opening paragraph of Section 1:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Also, throughout the formative years temptations were kept out of the way of the young people, so that their honesty could have every chance to harden and solidify and become a part of their very bone.
Related Themes:
Section 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Real Treasure:
There are two treasures in "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg": one literal (the sack of gold that the stranger leaves in town) and one metaphorical (the unassailable virtue of honesty in Hadleyburg's nineteen prominent citizens that turns out, by the end of the story, to be quite assailable indeed). The tension between these two treasures presents a central irony of the story: despite being in possession of one treasure, Hadleyburg's Nineteen fall over themselves to seize the other—which turns out to be fake.
In Reverend Burgess's speech to the crowd in Section 3, before he unwittingly reveals every one of the Nineteen save Edward Richards to be a fraud, Twain plays on this metaphorical characterization of the town's honesty as treasure:
Related Themes:
