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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
Pages 50-53
Explanation and Analysis—Flowers:
Flowers are an extended metaphor in Gilead, symbolizing the closeness of beauty and death. John sees Lila and their son return home carrying flowers. The flowers tell him that they’ve been to the graveyard. John knows they were visiting in order to familiarize their son with the place so that he’s comfortable there after John dies. Then, his son "teaches" him how to suck honeysuckle with those same flowers:
You would bite the little tip off a flower and then hand it to me, and I pretended I didn’t know how to go about it, and I would put the whole flower in my mouth, and pretend to chew it and swallow it, or I’d act as if it were a little whistle and try to blow through it, and you’d laugh and laugh and say, No! no! no!!
This is a playful scene between a father and a son. But even as they play, it’s impossible to forget that John’s son has these flowers because he’s being prepared for his father’s death. Even John’s most lighthearted moments with his son are colored by his old age. The flowers, with all of their brightness, suggest that beauty is inseparable from its fleetingness.
Because of their beauty and brevity, flowers more generally serve as a symbol of beautiful life that will soon die. This encapsulates much of John’s appreciation for the world around him. He knows his time is fleeting, but this knowledge doesn’t stop him from finding the world beautiful and remarkable.
At the same time, planted flowers, which bloom again and again, act as a symbol of the persistence of beauty in the face of death. Even as each individual bloom comes to an end, the plant itself continues to generate new beauty. John recalls that when the Black church in the town of Gilead burned down, the pastor brought him lilies that he’d dug up from the grounds. Ames replanted them in his own church, where they remain. In this case, that beauty continues to bloom even after facing the destruction of fire.
Related Themes:
Pages 110-115
Explanation and Analysis—The Church:
In Gilead, John Ames’s church becomes a metaphor for his life.
John knows that the trustees are going to replace the church building as soon as he dies. They won't take his suggestions for building repairs, which suggests that there's no point in fixing it up. He also knows this is partially for his own good. He writes:
I’d like to see our new church, but they’re right, I’d hate to see the old one come down. I believe seeing that might actually kill me, which would not be such a terrible thing for a person in my circumstances.
John has spent his entire adult life and career in this church. He lives in the parish house, meaning that his life is literally on church property. His habits revolve around his duties to the church. Before he married or had his son, he didn’t have a family outside of his congregation, and he wrote sermons to fill his time.
Once John dies, the church building will be torn down. But John also says that he’d die of grief if he lived to see his church come down. Whether John or the church building “dies” first, the other will go with it. John can’t live on without the church, and the church can’t live on without John. The church building becomes a metaphorical extension of his own life. In a sense, John is the church, and the church building is John. Neither can exist without the other.
After John’s death, though, the church building will be rebuilt. The congregation and community will continue to exist, just in a new building. This suggests that John’s writing and teaching will live on after he dies, in a way, even after his physical body is gone.
Related Themes:
