North and South: Metaphors 5 key examples

During the confrontation at Marlborough Mills, Thornton says that bringing in soldiers is the only way to deal with rioters, who are “men that make themselves into wild beasts.” An angry mob, he implies, will only respond to the use of brute force. Nevertheless, Margaret begs him to “face them like a man [… ] speak to your workmen as if they were human beings.” Though frightened herself by the “demoniac desire” of the crowd, she perceives that seeing the masses as humans who can be reasoned with, instead of as irrational beasts, is the only hope for avoiding violence. Notably, in making this plea, she also appeals to Thornton's own humanity, suggesting he'll be less than a man if he doesn't speak to his workers face to face.

The beast metaphor, and Margaret's counter to it, suggest that failing to regard workers as fully human is how manufacturers like Thornton have gotten into such bitter clashes with their employees.

The term "demoniac" is likely an intentional biblical allusion. The word refers to a person who is demon-possessed, notably to the Gerasene demoniac whose evil spirits caused him to be so strong and violent that no one but Jesus could heal him. So "demoniac desire" evokes the idea of the crowd's potential for unrestrained violence. Since Margaret takes the risk of regarding the "demoniac" mob as if they're rational people, this could be Gaskell's subtle way of setting her up as a Christlike figure (especially since she suffers on Thornton's behalf in the same chapter).

By using the "first olive" metaphor, Margaret is referring to the fact that she's never met someone in manufacturing before and isn't yet sure how she feels about the experience—or about Thornton himself. She compares this ambivalence to the experience of tasting an olive for the first time. Coming from the Mediterranean, olives probably weren't the most common or affordable of foods in Victorian England. In any case, the fact that Margaret uses this metaphor without further explanation suggests that olives were unusual to the average English person's palate and that one might easily "make a face" the first time they try one. The metaphor suggests that she sees good in Thornton (otherwise, why try "the olive" in the first place?) and acknowledges that she might yet come to like him, but there is a lot about his character and outlook, as a manufacturing man, that she doesn't yet understand. In short, he's strange to her, and she hasn't yet developed a "taste" for him. Yet the metaphor leaves open the possibility that Margaret's liking for Thornton will grow.

Everything about Milton and its outskirts is dingy and uninviting. Even before they arrive in the town, the Hales see that the horizon is dark—a detail that foreshadows a not-very-promising future for them and a dreary existence for the population as a whole. Once they get there, their impressions are confirmed by the atmosphere's acrid smell and taste, a direct result of burgeoning industry. The loss of "grass and herbage" adds to the unwholesome atmosphere and the contrast with Helstone's green countryside.

The imagery persists in Chapter 8 as the Hales settle down in Milton. Though they are troubled by the palpably unhealthy environment of "smoke and fogs," they can't afford to go anywhere else.

They were settled in Milton, and must endure smoke and fogs for a season; indeed, all other life seemed shut out from them by as thick a fog of circumstance.

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The "fog of circumstance" is a metaphor for the Hales' sudden removal from Helstone, sense of dislocation in Milton, and uncertainty about the future. Since fog makes it difficult or impossible to see where one is going or to move at all, fog imagery also reflects the Hales' financially reduced and emotionally strained circumstances. They don't have the means to live in a healthier place, and they feel cut off from the genteel village lifestyle they've always known before.

Everything about Milton and its outskirts is dingy and uninviting. Even before they arrive in the town, the Hales see that the horizon is dark—a detail that foreshadows a not-very-promising future for them and a dreary existence for the population as a whole. Once they get there, their impressions are confirmed by the atmosphere's acrid smell and taste, a direct result of burgeoning industry. The loss of "grass and herbage" adds to the unwholesome atmosphere and the contrast with Helstone's green countryside.

The imagery persists in Chapter 8 as the Hales settle down in Milton. Though they are troubled by the palpably unhealthy environment of "smoke and fogs," they can't afford to go anywhere else.

They were settled in Milton, and must endure smoke and fogs for a season; indeed, all other life seemed shut out from them by as thick a fog of circumstance.

Cite this Quote

The "fog of circumstance" is a metaphor for the Hales' sudden removal from Helstone, sense of dislocation in Milton, and uncertainty about the future. Since fog makes it difficult or impossible to see where one is going or to move at all, fog imagery also reflects the Hales' financially reduced and emotionally strained circumstances. They don't have the means to live in a healthier place, and they feel cut off from the genteel village lifestyle they've always known before.

Mrs. Thornton describes the striking millworkers as “a pack of ungrateful hounds” who want to defeat and enslave their masters, resulting in a perennial “struggle between masters and men.” She also describes the “continual murmur of the workpeople” as “the humming of a hive of bees.” These metaphors suggest, in turn, that her son's employees are vicious animals who can't be trusted, or at best that they're mindless workers, an interchangeable mass instead of a collective of individual human beings.

Later, when John Boucher confronts union leader Higgins, he also uses a dehumanizing simile to describe the union:

[Starve] to death… ere yo’ dare go again th’ Union.’… Yo’ may be kind hearts, each separate; but once banded together, yo’ve no more pity for a man than a wild hunger-maddened wolf.

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Boucher acknowledges that union leaders might be good people, but when they start working together as a collective in pursuit of abstract goals, they seem to lose their ability to see individuals and show them compassion—they'd sooner devour a man than help him. While Mrs. Thornton's animal metaphors are based in class antagonism, Boucher's touches on the capacity of crowds to adopt a dehumanizing mob mentality.

"A kind of fine intoxication" hints at both the mood of ingenuity and progress among Milton manufacturers and their potential downfall. Margaret admires their "exultation," or triumph, in their success while also disapproving of the way they boast about it. Their successes have made them drunk on power, in a way—yet, without that "intoxication," the men wouldn't be bold enough to break down technological barriers and achieve things previously thought impossible in their industries. Moreover, the intoxication is "fine," implying a degree of restraint and refinement, but it's still intoxication—a state brought about by overindulgence, one that's somewhat detached from reality and that cannot last forever.

The metaphor suggests the novel's own ambivalence toward the industrial revolution. On one hand, it has enabled progress and raised the overall standard of living for many people. On the other hand, it has entrenched class antagonisms, concentrating power in the hands of the "intoxicated"—at best, a tenuous situation for their workers and, at worst, a very dangerous one.