We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Metaphors 1 key example

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 1
Explanation and Analysis—Board Games:

Merricat employs an elaborate metaphor involving board games while returning to her home from the village. After completing her shopping, she imagines her walk home in the language of a generic board game where players roll dice and move forward or lose a turn depending on the results: 

I had to move down one side of Main Street, cross, and then move up the other side until I reached the black rock, when I would win. [...] A spray of dirt always lay across the sidewalk where the Harlers lived. Crossing the street (lose one turn) came next, to get to the grocery directly opposite. I always hesitated, vulnerable and exposed, on the side of the road while the traffic went by. [...] I sometimes lost two or even three turns because I waited so carefully for the road to clear in both directions before I crossed.