Previous
Imagery
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
Metaphors
Explanation and Analysis—Recasting Relatives:
While Shaila, Kusum, and Dr. Ranganathan all lost family members in the fatal terrorist attack aboard India Air Flight 182, they become close to each other in the aftermath. In a phone call with Shaila, Dr. Ranganathan uses a metaphor to capture the way that people like them have become their own sort of family, as Shaila describes here:
The rest of us don’t lose touch, that’s the point. Talk is all we have, says Dr. Ranganathan, who has also resisted his relatives and returned to Montreal and to his job, alone. He says, whom better to talk with than other relatives? We’ve been melted down and recast as a new tribe.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Kusum the Sea Creature:
When in Ireland to identify the bodies of their dead family members in the wake of the terrorist attack, Shaila and Kusum take a break to sit by the sea. Shaila pauses for a moment in the narration to describe her friend’s appearance, using a metaphor in the process:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I find Kusum squatting on a rock overlooking a bay in Ireland. It isn’t a big rock, but it juts sharply out over water. This is as close as we’ll ever get to them. June breezes balloon out her sari and unpin her knee-length hair. She has the bewildered look of a sea creature whom the tides have stranded.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Shaila the Pillar:
When the government-appointed social worker Judith Templeton and grieving widow Shaila meet for the first time, Judith explains why she reached out, using a metaphor in the process:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“I’ve worked in liaison with accident victims, but I mean I have no experience with a tragedy of this scale—”
“Who could?” I ask.
“—and with the complications of culture, language, and customs. Someone mentioned that Mrs. Bhave is a pillar—because you’ve taken it more calmly.”
At this, perhaps, I frown, for she reaches forward, almost to take my hand.
Related Themes:
