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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 5
Explanation and Analysis—Beating Drums:
Both of the following instances of figurative language concern the same core components and themes and are thus worth discussing in tandem. In both passages, Achebe compares ceremonial drumming to a heartbeat—the village's "heartbeat."
The first instance of this "heartbeat" comparison appears as a simile in Chapter 5:
The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer a separate things from the living village. It was like the pulsation of its heart.
In Chapter 6, Achebe makes a similar comparison, this time in the form of a metaphor:
The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers, whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.
These ceremonies are an important part of community-building and tradition, even an integral part of clan members' personal identities. The integral nature of the drums to the "health" of the village mirrors the heart's important role in the human body. The heart must pump blood through the body in order to sustain life; similarly, the drums must distribute music throughout the village to maintain unity and camaraderie. The above simile and metaphor demonstrate that in Umuofia, collectivism and community support take precedence over all other things. They are the lifeblood of the village.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Beating Drums:
Both of the following instances of figurative language concern the same core components and themes and are thus worth discussing in tandem. In both passages, Achebe compares ceremonial drumming to a heartbeat—the village's "heartbeat."
The first instance of this "heartbeat" comparison appears as a simile in Chapter 5:
The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer a separate things from the living village. It was like the pulsation of its heart.
In Chapter 6, Achebe makes a similar comparison, this time in the form of a metaphor:
The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers, whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.
These ceremonies are an important part of community-building and tradition, even an integral part of clan members' personal identities. The integral nature of the drums to the "health" of the village mirrors the heart's important role in the human body. The heart must pump blood through the body in order to sustain life; similarly, the drums must distribute music throughout the village to maintain unity and camaraderie. The above simile and metaphor demonstrate that in Umuofia, collectivism and community support take precedence over all other things. They are the lifeblood of the village.
Related Themes:
Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Locusts:
In Chapter 15, Okonkwo, Uchendu, and several of his fellow clansmen discuss news from a neighboring clan. A White missionary is rumored to have visited. Suspicious of the visitor's motives, clan members killed him, tying his bike to a pole. Several days later, the White man's comrades appeared and slaughtered the entire village. Only a few people made it out alive.
In the following passage, Okonkwo and his fellow clansmen hear about a prediction made by the neighboring clan's oracle. This oracle utilizes metaphor in its prediction, comparing White men to locusts:
[The Oracle] said that other white men were on their way. They were locusts, it said, and that first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain. And so they killed him.
From the Oracle's point of view, these White men are either pests or resources to be harvested and eaten. They are not, however, to be taken lightly, and in fact may serve as harbingers to foreshadow future tragic events. In Exodus, an Old Testament book of the Bible, God sent locusts as one of the 12 plagues to punish the Egyptians. These locusts preceded future death and destruction, as do the White men Okonkwo hears about in Chapter 15.
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Converts:
In Chapter 16, Achebe describes the attitudes of various Umuofia clan members towards the Christian missionaries. When said missionaries arrive, many clan members react with wariness or outright hostility. Chielo even compares the new Christian converts to excrement, using metaphor:
Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, called the converts the excrement of the clan, and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up.
According to Chielo, if the Christian converts from Umuofia are excrement, Christianity is a "mad dog" perfectly willing to consume such fecal matter. At the heart of this metaphor sits the act of consumption: not only has Christianity drawn these clan members away from their community, it has devoured them whole. These converts have been utterly destroyed in the eyes of their unconverted clansmen, such is the chasm that now exists between the two groups.
To readers aware of colonialism's many atrocities, the wariness and hostility of the Umuofia villagers appears shrewd. White colonizers perpetuated human suffering and cultural destruction on a global scale; the Umuofia villagers justifiably appear discerning in their reticence to accept change. However, from an alternative perspective—one unaware of future horrors—it is the villagers' stubbornness and blind adherence to tradition that makes everything fall apart. White colonial forces undoubtedly sowed the seeds of discord, but those unwilling to change and adapt permitted the seeds to grow.
Related Themes:
