Transcript 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
• 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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.
“...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.”
“...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.”
“...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).