Mother Night Metaphors and Similes

Mother Night Metaphors and Similes

An interesting idea (Metaphor)

Wirtanen intrigued Campbell. The longer they talked, the clearer it became that he knew a lot about Campbell, his wife and even his work. He even suggested him an idea for his new play in a case he would “run dry”. If he couldn’t think about something interesting to write about, he could use Wirtanen’s idea and write a story about a young American, who became a spy.

Contempt (Metaphor)

Not everyone thinks that Campbell is an embodiment of evil. He is a true hero for white supremacists and Kraft. Although Kraft is a spy, who is supposed to betray Campbell soon, he manages to perform two roles equally good. He often says that he dreams about the day when the Government says truth about Campbell. They would point at him and say that “this man you have been spitting on is a hero”. Of course, nobody spits on him, the thing Kraft talks about is all these hurtful words and threats Campbell receives.

Long separation (Metaphor)

Campbell used to love his Helga more than anything. They were young, beautiful and madly in love when the war started. She was an actress and that meant that she had to go to the front to entertain the troops. Then she disappeared somewhere in the Crimea. Although, Campbell dreamt about the day they would be able to reunite, when it actually happened, she was extremely shy, for she “had been dead so long”. She thought that Campbell had already put up with an idea of her death and wouldn’t want her back.

The ancient remains (Simile)

Jerusalem is the city where the past interweaves with the present. It is difficult to forget about all those wonderful, horrible and breath-taking events which took place there many years ago. Even Campbell, who has never been a big history lover, starts thinking about the past. He feels that his “war crimes are as ancient as Solomon’s old grey stones”. This simile shows that the war and its horrors have already become past for him.

Carefree (Simile)

A guard, who watches over Campbell at night, says that he sleeps very noisily, “talking and tossing all night long”. The guard says that he is the only man he ever heard of, “who has a bad conscience about what he did in the war”. Even Hoess, a commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, “slept like a saint”. Nightmares about the crimes he had committed never troubled him. He was able to sleep peacefully at night.

Fit (Simile)

The Americans took Campbell to the Ohrdruf, the first concentration camp they were to see, in order to show him what he had done and what crimes he committed. Lieutenant O’Hare was supposed to watch over him. He looked “like a lean young wolf”, fit, strong and with a strong look. He emitted confidence.

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