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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 1
Explanation and Analysis—Gold:
In Chapter 1, Dickens introduces readers to Ralph Nickleby, a man defined in large part by his greed and overwhelming self-interest. According to the narrator, who ruminates broadly on the nature of greed throughout the passage, such unchecked avarice can bring about a person's end. Dickens utilizes metaphor to hammer this point home, at the same time foreshadowing Ralph's eventual death in the novel:
Gold conjures up a mist about a man, more destructive of all his old senses and lulling to his feelings than the fumes of charcoal.
In the passage above, Dickens uses metaphor to compare the effect gold/money has on a person to the effect of charcoal fumes. Such fumes can be deadly in an enclosed space, given the large amount of carbon monoxide (very lethal in high quantities) produced in the process of burning charcoal. Through the use of this indirect metaphor, Dickens argues that greed is a deadly, poisonous force.
Here, Dickens lays out one of his thesis statements for Nicholas Nickleby: love of money can destroy a person's life, relationships, and moral character. Dickens makes an example out of Ralph in the novel, foreshadowing his demise in the above passage. Money does indeed "lull" Ralph's feelings, influencing him to make decisions that lead to his eventual suicide.
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Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Dreams:
In the following passage from Chapter 13, the narrator meditates on the significance of dreams, exploring their relevance as a means of escapism in a world full of harsh cruelties. Dickens uses metaphor in the course of this philosophical contemplation:
Dreams are the bright creatures of poem and legend, who sport on earth in the night season, and melt away in the first beam of the sun, which lights grim care and stern reality on their daily pilgrimage through the world. Nicholas looked upon the sleepers, at first with the air of one who gazes upon a scene which, though familiar to him, has lost none of its sorrowful effect in consequence.
In the above passage, Nicholas observes the sleeping Dotheboys Hall children and speculates on the content of their dreams, which he compares to fantastical, mythical creatures that engage in nighttime revelry. These boys rely on dreams for the things their daily lives cannot provide, turning to nighttime fantasies as a form of escapism.
Dickens also compares the young boys' eventual waking hours to a "pilgrimage through the world"—a religious journey, in which the end goal is only to sleep again and escape reality for a few more blissful hours. This metaphor, coupled with the others in the passage, only begins to hint at the daily pain and trauma these children must endure.
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Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—Summit of Life:
At the beginning of Chapter 22, Smike and Nicholas must leave London to seek their fortunes elsewhere. As they make their journey out into the world, the narrator pontificates about the meaning of the adventure. Dickens utilizes metaphor in the following passage to extrapolate on this meaning:
It was a harder day's journey than yesterday's, for there were long and weary hills to climb; and in journeys, as in life, it is a great deal easier to go down hill than up. However, they kept on, with unabated perseverance, and the hill has not yet lifted its face to heaven that perseverance will not gain the summit of at last.
In this excerpt, the narrator compares the characters' physical journey to the journey of life, equating physical with emotional toil. The "harder day's journey than yesterday's," though referencing the energy Smike and Nicholas must exert to climb up "long and weary hills," could very well apply to a difficult relationship or work situation. The need for "unabated perseverance" does not apply only to Smike and Nicholas's journey outside of London, but also to the continued relational turmoil the two men face. As they struggle to maintain physical stamina, they also struggle to remain emotionally and mentally healthy.
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Chapter 38
Explanation and Analysis—Milk of Human Kindness:
In the following passage from Chapter 38, Mr. Squeers complains about Smike's "ungrateful" behavior, utilizing both metaphor and allusion to do so:
Mrs Squeers has been his mother, grandmother, aunt, – Ah! and I may say uncle too, all in one. She never cottoned to anybody except them two engaging and delightful boys of yours, as she cottoned to this chap. What’s my return? What’s come of my milk of human kindness? It turns into curds and whey when I look at him.
When Mr. Squeers refers to the "milk of human kindness" in this passage, Dickens is alluding to a prominent passage from Macbeth (Act I, scene 5, lines 15-17): "Yet I do fear thy nature. / It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness."
Mr. Squeers also utilizes metaphor in this passage, angrily asserting that Smike is ungrateful to himself and Mrs. Squeers for all that they have done for him. Mr. Squeers declares that his "milk of human kindness," or his compassion, has curdled into bitterness and anger (curds and whey) due to Smike's alleged behavior. Mr. Squeers feels that Smike owes him something, despite the fact that Squeers has been abusing and taking advantage of Smike for years. This entitlement is a strong feature of Mr. Squeers's character.
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Chapter 44
Explanation and Analysis—Bookkeeping Morality:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 44, Dickens meditates on the folly of greed in relation to Ralph Nickleby, perhaps the worst perpetrator of said vice in Nicholas Nickleby. Dickens composes an apt metaphor to differentiate Ralph's avarice from that of other men:
Some of the craftiest scoundrels that ever walked this earth, or rather—for walking implies, at least, an erect position and the bearing of a man—that ever crawled and crept through life by its dirtiest and narrowest ways, will gravely jot down in diaries the events of every day, and keep a regular debtor and creditor account with Heaven, which shall always show a floating balance in their own favour.
In this excerpt, the narrator uses metaphor to compare conscience and financial bookkeeping. Certain men, the narrator asserts, can only comprehend morality through the same lens they use to contemplate money. These "craft[y] scoundrels" will never "do wrong" because in their greed-riddled minds, conscience is a business deal out of which they will always emerge as winners. The narrator pontificates on this topic only to draw comparisons between the type of man described above (greedy, but self-conscious about maintaining the appearance of morality) and Ralph (who holds no such reservations, and cares for nothing but "avarice" and "hatred").
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Chapter 53
Explanation and Analysis—Vulture and Lamb:
In the following passage from Chapter 53, Nicholas confronts Arthur about his relationship with Madeline, whom Nicholas claims despises Arthur. Using metaphor, Nicholas reveals what he believes to be the true nature of Arthur and Madeline's relationship:
‘Listen to me. You are to be married tomorrow morning.’
‘N – n – no,’ rejoined Gride. ‘Who said I was? How do you know that?’
‘No matter how,’ replied Nicholas, ‘I know it. The young lady who is to give you her hand hates and despises you. Her blood runs cold at the mention of your name – the vulture and the lamb, the rat and the dove, could not be worse matched than you and she. You see I know her.’
Nicholas views Arthur's interest in Madeline as exploitative, using simile in the above passage to compare Arthur and Madeline's relationship to that of "the vulture and the lamb, the rat and the dove." In Nicholas's mind, the listed predator-prey dynamics accurately reflect Arthur's extractive and transactional relationship with Madeline. Arthur views the young woman as a means to an end, a source of money or cultural capital. Nicholas takes issue with this, as he does with all manner of injustice, and confronts Arthur directly about his actions.
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