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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
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—The World, Like an Orange:
At two important moments in the novel Burnett uses a metaphor comparing the globe to an orange to explain to the reader how characters view the world and their place within it. At first this comparison seems like a simple simile, but the work it turns out to do has real metaphorical significance for the rest of the novel. In Chapter 19, Mrs. Medlock describes how Dickon's mother had articulated this concept to her:
“When I was at school my jography told as th’ world was shaped like a orange an’ I found out before I was ten that th’ whole orange doesn’t belong to nobody. No one owns more than his bit of a quarter an’ there’s times it seems like there’s not enow quarters to go round. But don’t you—none o’ you—think as you own th’ whole orange or you’ll find out you’re mistaken, an’ you won’t find it out without hard knocks.” What children learns from children,’ she says, ‘is that there’s no sense in grabbin’ at th’ whole orange—peel an’ all.
Related Themes:
Chapter 20
Explanation and Analysis—The World, Like an Orange:
At two important moments in the novel Burnett uses a metaphor comparing the globe to an orange to explain to the reader how characters view the world and their place within it. At first this comparison seems like a simple simile, but the work it turns out to do has real metaphorical significance for the rest of the novel. In Chapter 19, Mrs. Medlock describes how Dickon's mother had articulated this concept to her:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“When I was at school my jography told as th’ world was shaped like a orange an’ I found out before I was ten that th’ whole orange doesn’t belong to nobody. No one owns more than his bit of a quarter an’ there’s times it seems like there’s not enow quarters to go round. But don’t you—none o’ you—think as you own th’ whole orange or you’ll find out you’re mistaken, an’ you won’t find it out without hard knocks.” What children learns from children,’ she says, ‘is that there’s no sense in grabbin’ at th’ whole orange—peel an’ all.
Related Themes:
