The Magic of Metaphor
I was going through some of my old papers from college the other day and I found one I wrote about tangible metaphors used in literature. It’s a literary analysis paper that compares A Yellow Raft in Blue Water (Michael Dorris), The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) and the use of metaphors in each story. This paper was written in my first semester of college for a very intimidating class about multicultural American literature. My analysis dissected the use of the metaphors in these two novels and their ultimate meaning. Here’s a quote from my introduction:
“The human experience is hard to describe. Whether we go through happiness, sorrow, grief, absolute bliss, or utter defeat, the words we use to describe these feelings can never satisfy the emotions attached to them unless we master metaphor. It is “a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.” As Aristotle points out, the mastering of metaphors is our only doorway into emotion. By connecting two things we all have come in contact with, one being a feeling and one a tangible object, we can then attach our emotions to physical items.”
The act of braiding creates a strong bond, symbolizing heritage and community in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. The three strands of the braid achieve their highest potential through the process of the braid, through building their legacy.
In The Kite Runner, Amir finds his emotional metaphor in kite flying. The kite becomes a metaphor of the necessity of appreciation, a reminder of guilt and a way to be good again.
If you haven’t read A Yellow Raft in Blue Water or The Kite Runner, I thoroughly recommend you do. They’re fantastic reads that quickly outline the proper use of metaphors in literature.
Can you name any other books that use metaphors in clever ways?