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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—In the Crowd:
As they are searching for Shmuel’s father in the camp, Bruno and Shmuel are accidentally swept up in a line of marching prisoners being herded into the gas chambers. The narrator employs tactile imagery and metaphor to immerse the reader in Bruno’s overwhelming physical experience of this horrible moment:
Bruno closed his eyes for a moment and felt it wash over him. When he opened them again he wasn't so much marching as being swept along by the group of people, and all he could feel was the mud that was caked all over his body and his pyjamas clinging to his skin with all the rain and he longed to be back in his house, watching all this from a distance and not wrapped up in the centre of it.
The tactile imagery of "mud caked all over his body" and "pyjamas clinging to his skin with all the rain" conveys Bruno’s helplessness and physical discomfort at being swept away. The unpleasant sensory details immerse the reader in his experience, as they can almost feel the unforgivingly wet and oppressive environment around him. In contrast to his warm street clothes, which now lie on the other side of the fence, Bruno is chilled to the bone and soaking in his “striped pajamas.” The combination of the pajamas “clinging” to him and the description of his longing for home also make the reader feel the emotional heaviness and fear Bruno endures.
The metaphor of sensations "washing over him" compares the crowd to a flood, which illustrates Bruno’s lack of control as he is swept along. He has no power to escape, the crowd carrying him helplessly as though he were caught in a literal current. Bruno doesn’t know that none of the prisoners can escape the “current” that has seized them. However, he’s come too far to turn back and knows he’s “wrapped up in the centre of it.”
Related Themes:
