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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
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Armor :
The narrator uses a metaphor that compares a heavy and elaborate wedding dress to “armor.” After Amaranta fails in various attempts to sabotage Rebeca’s marriage to Pietro Crespi, the narrator notes that:
That afternoon, while Rebeca was suffocating with heat inside the armor of thread that Amparo Moscote was putting about her body with thousands of pins and infinite patience, Amaranta made several mistakes in her crocheting and pricked her finger with the needle, but she decided with frightful coldness that the date would be the last Friday before the wedding and the method would be a dose of laudanum in her coffee.
As Amparo Moscote, one of Don Apolinar Moscote’s many daughters, shapes the wedding dress to Rebeca’s body, the narrator describes Rebecca as “suffocating with heat inside the armor of thread.” This metaphor imagines the wedding dress as a heavy suit of armor, highlighting both its severe formality and its great weight. There is also a sense of irony to this comparison. Due to Amaranta’s vow to stop the wedding at any cost, Rebeca is, in some sense, going to war with her adopted sister. However, no armor could protect her from the poison that Amaranta has decided to use.
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—War of Postponement :
Márquez uses an extended metaphor that compares dealing with government bureaucracy to warfare in a highly satirical passage. The narrator describes Colonel Aureliano Buendía's frustrations in attempting to secure the pension promised to him and the other soldiers by the government:
After the armistice of Neerlandia, while Colonel Aureliano Buendía took refuge with his little gold fishes, he kept in touch with the rebel officers who had been faithful to him until the defeat. With them he waged the sad war of daily humiliation, of entreaties and petitions, of come-back-tomorrow, of anytime-now, of we’re-studying-your-case-with-the-proper-attention; the war hopelessly lost against the many yours-most-trulys who should have signed and would never sign the lifetime pensions. The other war, the bloody one of twenty years, did not cause them as much damage as the corrosive war of eternal postponements.
Keeping in touch with his former rebel officers, Aureliano now fights a "sad war of daily humiliation" against the government in his futile attempts to secure his and their promised pensions. In an extended metaphor, the narrator characterizes this struggle as a form of combat, a war of "eternal postponements" that is "hopelessly lost" in the face of government bureaucracy.
Additionally, this passage satirizes the duplicity and inefficiency of the government, which lacks either the will or resources to distribute the promised funds. Márquez satirically mocks the polite but hollow language of government officials, who sign off their communications with such messages as "yours-most-truly" without genuinely intending to help.
Explanation and Analysis—Burning Coals:
Márquez uses simile and metaphor to describe Colonel Aureliano Buendía's deep but impotent anger following the assassinations of all of his sons born during the war:
Colonel Aureliano Buendía did not recover his calm for a long time. He abandoned the manufacture of little fishes, ate with great difficulty, and wandered all through the house as if walking in his sleep, dragging his blanket and chewing on his quiet rage. At the end of three months his hair was ashen, his old waxed mustache poured down beside his colorless lips, but, on the other hand, his eyes were once more the burning coals that had startled those who had seen him born and that in other days had made chairs rock with a simple glance.
The narrator notes that, following the murders, Aureliano began to live "as if walking in his sleep," a simile that highlights the aimless nature of his frustrations. Desiring to take action but now too old to do anything about the difficult situation, Aureliano began "chewing on his quiet rage," a metaphor that suggests that he wastes a good deal of time in profitless anger, despite having never displayed much love for his sons while they were alive. Later, the narrator adds that his eyes were "burning coals," a metaphor that calls to mind earlier days in Aureliano's life, when he was full of boundless vitality and determination.
Explanation and Analysis—Like Kings:
The narrator uses simile and metaphor to describe the complex changes brought to the Buendía family by the railroad and the influx of foreign visitors to the once-remote town of Macondo:
Fernanda had to swallow her scruples and treat guests of the worst sort like kings as they muddied the porch with their boots, urinated in the garden, laid their mats down anywhere to take their siesta, and spoke without regard for the sensitivities of ladies or the proper behavior of gentlemen [...] Colonel Aureliano Buendía, convinced that the majority of those who came into his workshop to greet him were not doing it because of sympathy or regard but out of the curiosity to meet a historical relic, a museum fossil, decided to shut himself in by barring the door [...]
Fernanda, who was raised to think of herself as a future queen, is ironically forced to “swallow her scruples” and treat her new guests “like kings” despite their poor behavior, a simile that highlights the financial power of these white tourists and the town’s subsequent deference to them. Further, the narrator notes that the many visitors to Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s workshop treat him, he believes, like a “historic relic, a museum fossil,” metaphors that suggest that these visitors are only interested in briefly viewing the Colonel due to his important past role in the nation’s politics.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Acrobats of Commerce:
The narrator uses both simile and metaphor when describing some of the major social changes brought to Macondo by the introduction of the railroad:
Ever since the railroad had been officially inaugurated [...] on the streets of Macondo men and women were seen who had adopted everyday and normal customs and manners but who really looked like people out of a circus. In a town that had chafed under the tricks of the gypsies there was no future for those ambulatory acrobats of commerce who with equal effrontery offered a whistling kettle and a daily regime that would assure the salvation of the soul on the seventh day; but from those who let themselves be convinced out of fatigue and the ones who were always unwary, they reaped stupendous benefits.
The railroad changes Macondo in profound ways, connecting it to the outside world and allowing commerce to flow into the town. The narrator notes that the railroad leads new people into Macondo, people who “had adopted everyday and normal customs and manners” but nevertheless appeared “like people out of a circus.” Through this simile, the narrator emphasizes the strangeness of this new class of commercial workers who have come to Macondo to sell the latest technological innovations. Additionally, the narrator compares these sales agents, in a metaphor, to “acrobats,” highlighting their deft and skillful sales strategies. These metaphors and similes, drawn from the language of the circus, connect this wave of commerce to the old festivals set up by the “gypsies” who visited Macondo annually in the past.
Related Themes:
