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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
Part 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Sethe's Eyes:
Throughout the novel, Sethe’s eyes are compared to iron and deep wells of emptiness. In Chapter 1, Paul D notes Sethe’s eyes as one of her defining traits.
Halle's girl—the one with iron eyes and backbone to match…A face too still for comfort; irises the same color as her skin, which, in that still face, used to make him think of a mask with mercifully punched out eyes…like two wells.
As iron is known for its resilience, the comparison between her eyes and the metal highlights Sethe's similar strength in the face of slavery's hardships. Paul D's further description of her "punched out" eyes adds nuance by suggesting that this stability is a front Sethe uses to hide her real emotions. To survive and escape, she has had to deny her fearful emotions and parts of her humanity to become more steely.
Through the change in Sethe's eyes, the novel illustrates the extent of the harm done by Schoolteacher:
But what he did broke three more Sweet Home men and punched the glittering iron out of Sethe’s eyes, leaving two open wells that did not reflect firelight.
The lively and "glittering" strength of Sethe's eyes before Schoolteacher suggests that her resilience was once a part of her nature. However, the cruelty of Schoolteacher leaves her with emotional trauma that she has to hide behind her strong resolve. Eyes are often regarded as the windows to the soul, so this significant shift to emptiness reflects how part of Sethe's humanity was taken from her during her enslavement. Other instances of iron within the novel, such as Paul D's iron bit, parallel this depiction of Sethe's iron eyes as a product of slavery.
Related Themes:
Part 1, Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Blood Eddy:
In Chapter 10, Paul D reflects on his further enslavement after Sweet Home and discusses how he began to tremble. He attributes the sensation to his blood, which he compares to a frozen river melting.
A flutter of a kind, in the chest, then the shoulder blades. It felt like rippling—gentle at first and then wild. As though the further south they led him the more his blood, frozen like an ice pond for twenty years, began thawing, breaking into pieces that, once melted, had no choice but to swirl and eddy. Sometimes it was in his leg. Then again it moved to the base of his spine. By the time they unhitched him from the wagon and he saw nothing but dogs and two shacks in a world of sizzling grass, the roiling blood was shaking him to and fro. But no one could tell.
Paul D reveals his deteriorating resilience after being dehumanized by Schoolteacher by comparing his blood to solid ice falling apart. At first, Paul D qualifies the comparison using a simile ("like an ice pond"), only suggesting a similarity between the nature of his blood and an ice pond. However, as he begins to speak more about the way his blood moves and controls him, the general comparison of blood to water unfolds into a metaphor. This change can be seen when he directly asserts that his blood is taking on water-like behaviors like swirling and eddying. The combined usage of these literary devices reflects the gradual intensification of Paul D's trembling.
Furthermore, Paul D's description of his blood moving in circular water-like motions parallels his inability to move forward in life due to his trauma. In Georgia, this emerges as an inability to move his body outside of work, resulting in him going through the motions rather than fully living. After he escapes, his circular movements continue through his meaningless wandering since it is as if he is walking in circles. When Beloved moves Paul D out of 124, he claims she is "worse than the blood eddy," demonstrating his continued struggle to gain control over his body and the past.
Related Themes:
Part 2, Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Jungle:
In Chapter 19, Stamp Paid reworks a metaphor used by white people—one that compares the true nature of Black people to a jungle—by suggesting that enslaved people's anger and “crazed” behavior are not caused by their African origins, but by white people:
Whitepeople believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle. Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood. In a way, he thought, they were right. The more coloredpeople spent their strength trying to convince them how gentle they were, how clever and loving, how human, the more they used themselves up to persuade whites of something Negroes believed could not be questioned, the deeper and more tangled the jungle grew inside. But it wasn’t the jungle blacks brought with them to this place from the other (livable) place. It was the jungle whitefolks planted in them...The screaming baboon lived under their own white skin; the red gums were their own.
The original metaphor used animal imagery to dehumanize and animalize Black people. However, Stamp Paid portrays white people as the true animals perpetuating the unintelligible and bloodthirsty violence they project onto Black people. When describing how white people use the metaphor, Stamp Paid uses alliteration to draw attention to the carefully constructed and artificial nature of the white metaphor of the jungle. In contrast, Stamp’s reworking feels more authentic, with its lack of attention-grabbing literary devices. Furthermore, Stamp says that the jungle was "planted in" enslaved people, alluding to plantations and continuing the idea that this "jungle" is man-made rather than natural. By framing plantations as the true jungle, Stamp turns the white people's metaphor on its head by portraying "the other (livable) place" (Africa) as far more civilized. Instead, he argues that it is the influence of white people's animalistic behavior that inspires violence in Black people.
Related Themes:
