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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
Metaphors
Explanation and Analysis—Maggie the Hurt Dog:
When introducing readers to her daughter Maggie near the beginning of the story, Mama (the narrator) uses a metaphor, as seen in the following passage:
Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground.
In this passage, Mama metaphorically likens Maggie to “a lame animal,” describing how her way of walking is similar to how a hurt dog “sidle[s] up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to them.” This metaphor helps readers to understand that Maggie is both timid and desperate for affection.
Maggie’s way of carrying herself is notably the opposite of how her sister Dee carries herself. Maggie walks with “eyes on [the] ground" and, as Mama notes earlier in the story, Dee “would always look anyone in the eye.” Maggie’s timid nature—and simultaneous longing for connection—is likely related to the fact that she has not had the same opportunities as Dee. While Dee went off to college in a city and has built community away from home, Maggie is still living in poverty with her mother in rural Georgia.
Related Themes:
