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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 Sound and the Fury
April Seventh, 1928
Explanation and Analysis—Box of Stars:
In the middle of Benjy’s segment of narration, he uses a beautiful and apparently accidental metaphor to describe a box of jewelry that distracts him and causes him to fall silent:
Caddy got the box and set it on the floor and opened it. It was full of stars. When I was still, they were still. When I moved, they glinted and sparkled. I hushed.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Caddy and Firelight:
Near the end of Benjy’s segment of narration, he uses a simile and a metaphor in close conjunction to describe Caddy:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Caddy's head was on Father's shoulder. Her hair was like fire, and little points of fire were in her eyes, and I went and Father lifted me into the chair too, and Caddy held me. She smelled like trees.
Related Themes:
June Second, 1910
Explanation and Analysis—Father's Belief:
Near the end of Quentin’s segment of narration, Faulkner includes a metaphor that clarifies Quentin’s father’s personality and demonstrates his relationship with Quentin. Faulkner writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] then Mother would cry and say that Father believed his people were better than hers and that he was ridiculing Uncle Maury to teach us the same thing she couldn't see that Father was teaching us that all men are just accumulations dolls stuffed with sawdust swept up from the trash heaps where all previous dolls had been thrown away the sawdust flowing from what wound in what side that not for me died not.
Related Themes:
