Previous
Hyperbole
Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Troubled About My Soul
Explanation and Analysis—Kingdom of the Blind:
When Tish returns home to tell her parents she is pregnant, she describes her mother, Sharon, to the reader. Tish believes her mother is beautiful, but not in a typical way. She is not especially "beautiful to look at"—instead she is beautiful for her perseverance, especially in getting out of her hometown of Birmingham, "that corner of hell." Tish describes her mother's beauty by using an idiom but deploys it in an unusual way:
My Mama's a kind of strange woman—so people say—and she was twenty-four when I was born, so she's past forty now. I must tell you, I love her. I think she's a beautiful woman. She may not be beautiful to look at—whatever the [...] that means, in the kingdom of the blind.
Tish describes how Sharon isn't especially beautiful, having gained a little weight and with her hair going a little gray after she turns 40, but she is still beautiful for her personality, grit, and kindness. Importantly, Tish clarifies that being "beautiful to look at" means nothing in "the kingdom of the blind"—meaning that beauty standards are defined by a society made "blind" by its racism and injustice. This inverts the traditional idiom "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." This old saying, common in many European languages since the 16th century, means that a person's ability is valued depending on how common it is in their environment. In other words, a man with just one eye would be seen as deserving of the crown when all his subjects are blind. Here Tish uses the idiom in a different way to describe herself: only she understands her mother's beauty, because the world is "blind" to her mother's best qualities, which only exist below the surface.
Related Themes:
