Nature’s Death Metaphors
The timeline of nature provides ample opportunity for the writers to unleash their imaginative use of figurative language. Here is a very elegiac description of the horror of mortality:
“His father had died a slow death three years before, shriveling and drying up like a leaf in a rainless December”
Domestic Insult Humor
On the other side of the spectrum from poetic illustrations of the life cycle is domestic insult humor. This is a type of comic observation that is almost as perfectly built for the metaphor as death:
“Yes,” Counsel said, winking at John his cousin, “my wife is the best evidence of the ruination that spoiling brings.”
The Struggle of Being a Slave
Slavery is bad. Most people know that. But the typical concept of slavery for most people begins and ends with bondaged servitude. The hellish existence of slavery went well beyond the cruelty of owners. Every day could present a new obstacle to just feeling human:
“There had been a slave on the plantation she had come from who had come upon her in a field of corn and told her that a woman like her should be shot, like a horse with a broken leg.”
Good Masters…As Opposed To?
Another element of slavery one must consider is exactly what people mean when they refer to owners of other human beings as a “good” master as opposed to, say, a cruel master. This is not really a case for metaphorical shading, but goodness people did and do try. Like the young man promising to be the kind of shepherd God intended. (The oblivious irony of God intending anyone to be a shepherd of slaves is another argument entirely.) The young promising with full sincerity to be:
“A master looking down on them all like God on his throne looked down on him.”
When Lightning Strikes Twice
While walking through the woods a storm rises and thunder claps and the man standing pays no mind to it. The second strike, however, captures his attention as crows begin falling to the ground on their heads. And then the explanation:
“The top third of the oak tree was now a glorious blaze of yellow light, as though a million candles had been placed in it.”
