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Symbolism & Metaphor in Alistair MacLeod’s “The Boat”

Symbolism & Metaphor in Alistair MacLeod’s “The Boat”. English 521. Literal vs. Figurative Language. LITERAL: - means a description from the actual text; the obvious, explicit detail. what the story/poem tells us directly about and object, character, or event. Literal vs. Figurative.

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Symbolism & Metaphor in Alistair MacLeod’s “The Boat”

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  1. Symbolism & Metaphor in Alistair MacLeod’s “The Boat” English 521

  2. Literal vs. Figurative Language • LITERAL: - means a description from the actual text; the obvious, explicit detail. • what the story/poem tells us directly about and object, character, or event

  3. Literal vs. Figurative • FIGURATIVE: • The symbolic meaning of an object, character, or event. The thing being described is compared to something else with which it has something in common. • Not indicated directly in the text; requires the reader to use his/her imagination and to “read between the lines.”

  4. Figurative Language (“Figures of Speech”) • The most common figures of speech are the SIMILE, METAPHOR, AND PERSONIFICATION • METAPHOR: A comparison made between two seemingly unlike things that (unlike the simile) does not use “like” or “as.”

  5. The Boat: • Symbolizes DUTY, IMPRISONMENT, and NECESSITY. • In his youth, the father’s desire to attend university was thwarted, perhaps by his parents’ expectation that he, as an only son, would carry on the fishing tradition. • In his adult years, the father is TIED to a life on the boat because of his responsibility to his wife and children.

  6. Books: • Symbolize EDUCATION and an ESCAPE from the world of IMPRISONMENT and monotonous duty. • The father lived the life that truly mattered to him within the pages of the books he read. • They provided him with a means of excitement, intellect, and imagination. • The daughters and the narrator followed suit, but their books motivated them to actually leave the village and travel beyond its confines.

  7. The Tourists • Metaphor for the WORLD BEYOND the fishing village; an ESCAPE from duty and imprisonment. • Just like the books, they provided the father him with a means of excitement, intrigue and imagination that could not be fulfilled by fishing.

  8. “...the brass chains on his wrists...”: • Imagery reinforces the destructive influence of the sea and the boat on the father’s life (literally & figuratively). • The sea and the boat which “shackled” him in life are paralleled in death by the “chains on his wrists.”

  9. “...the seaweed (entangled) in his hair...” • Imagery reinforces the destructive influence of the sea and the boat on the father’s life (lit & fig). • The sea and the boat which “entangled” him in life are paralleled in death by the “seaweed tangled in his hair.”

  10. “...wedged between two boulders...” • Symbolizes the father being TRAPPED between two forces which controlled his life. • Mirrors a life in which he was “wedged” between his RESPONSIBILITIES (father, fisherman) and his DESIRES (books, education).

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