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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 11: On the Doorstep
Explanation and Analysis—Dragon's Mouth:
At the end of Chapter 11, Thorin manages to open the side door into the Lonely Mountain. Tolkien uses a provocative simile and metaphor to describe the entrance:
A door five feet high and three broad was outlined, and slowly without a sound swung inwards. It seemed as if darkness flowed out like a vapour from the hole in the mountain-side, and deep darkness in which nothing could be seen lay before their eyes, a yawning mouth leading in and down.
Darkness is not a substance, but is rather the simple absence of light. There is so little light inside the mountain that the darkness seems to turn into a detectable substance that "flow[s] out like a vapour." It is almost as though so much darkness has been stuffed inside the mountain that the excess comes pouring out as soon as the door is open. Bilbo and the dwarves see, feel, and breathe this darkness.
Tolkien goes on to metaphorically compare the opening to "a yawning mouth leading in and down." This comparison draws a metaphorical connection between the passageway and the long way down a dragon's throat. The protagonists have fought their way to this mountain. Now that they have the chance to go inside, they realize that the greatest danger yet lies within its heart. They are consumed by the feeling that they are about to walk into the open mouth of Smaug himself, down into the literal "belly of the beast." Once they are inside the mountain, they will be squarely within his territory with no way out except back up through the dark passage. They understand that likely as not, they will be incinerated. Their remains will mix with the vaporized darkness and emerge from the mountain as a puff of dark smoke in the face of the next person to peer inside.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Snails:
In Chapter 11, Bilbo and the dwarves spend days searching for the side entrance into the Lonely Mountain, to no avail. When Bilbo finally sits down to "think" about the problem, Tolkien includes a detail that serves as an important metaphor for Bilbo himself:
[...]I am afraid he was not thinking much of the job, but of what lay beyond the blue distance, the quiet Western Land and the Hill and his hobbit-hole under it.
A large grey stone lay in the centre of the grass and he stared moodily at it or watched the great snails. They seemed to love the little shut-in bay with its walls of cool rock, and there were many of them of huge size crawling slowly and stickily along its sides.
Bilbo is homesick. The home he wishes he could return to is called a hobbit-hole, but it is far more elaborate than this name suggests. It is a series of rooms that lie under a hill and wrap around the perimeter. The rooms Bilbo favors are on the outside edge because they get natural sunlight. The way the snails cling to the "wall of cool rock" thus evokes the way Bilbo clings to the outer walls of his hobbit-hole. Like the "little shut-in bay," the hill provides Bilbo with safety and comfort that he wishes he could cling to right now.
On the other hand, when considering these snails as a metaphor for Bilbo, it is also important to note how they keep "crawling slowly and stickily along" the rock walls. They are tenacious, never letting go. These are the same walls Bilbo and the dwarves have been "crawling slowly and stickily along," looking closely for signs of an entrance into the mountain. Bilbo may be tempted to give up, but he never sets off toward home. Instead, he keeps his attention "stuck" to the snails on the wall all that night and all the next day. The following night, he watches as a thrush kills one of the snails in the light from a ray of sun. He realizes that the sun is shining directly on the entrance he and the dwarves have been looking for. Bilbo's snail-like tenacity thus helps him save the day. Like the snail that sacrifices its life for this moment, Bilbo sacrifices the comfort of his hobbit-hole to be a hero.
Related Themes:
