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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
Key Examples in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Branches Without Roots:
As Nanny speaks to Janie, after the young woman kisses Johnny Taylor over the fence, she uses a complex metaphor:
You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways. You in particular. Ah was born back due in slavery so it wasn’t for me to fulfill my dreams of whut a woman oughta be and do.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—The Rock:
As an older Janie works in Jody's store in Eatonville, she starts to find the work not grueling, but certainly tedious. That feeling is described in a long and descriptive metaphor:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The store itself kept her with a sick headache. The labor of getting things down off of a shelf or out of a barrel was nothing. And so long as people wanted only a can of tomatoes or a pound of rice it was all right. But supposing they went on and said a pound and a half of bacon and a half pound of lard? The whole thing changed from a little walking and stretching to a mathematical dilemma. Or maybe cheese was thirty-seven cents a pound and somebody came and asked for a dime's worth. [...] That was the rock she was battered against.
Related Themes:
