Metaphor and Meaning

Metaphors and meaning are everywhere: in art, in literature, in music, in advertising, and in everyday conversation. And we employ this maxim in other areas of life such as learning. Often, you hear corporate trainers or leadership and organizational communication coaches refer to different types of learning styles, particularly visual learning for its ability to bring the material to life and increase comprehension and retention. 

There really is something, then, to the adage a picture is worth a thousand words.

As writers not only of business documents but also non-fiction and fiction narratives, showing the reader is preferred to simply telling the reader. Providing a rich complement of visual tokens to represent both the action in a novel as well as its symbolism allows the mind's eye of the reader to visualize the story, making it more engaging and drawing them in to turn the page and read on. 

In my novel ALL SHE HAD, the careful reader will find a number of metaphors that represent various themes that run throughout the book. The first scene opens with the powerful but quiet metaphor of summer fruit. The summer fruit of the pie that is offered to the protagonist, Mallory, represents the end. It is a foreshadowing of her destruction and the rot within the family. 

Fruit, or more specifically summer fruit, as symbol of death is found in many contexts throughout history. One highly-recognizable use of this symbol is found in the still life paintings of French Post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne where he pairs skulls with an array of ripe fruit. I've always found this fascinating: the juxtaposition of light and dark aspects, representations life and death as well as the continuity of the earthy and the organic, ripeness followed by decay.

Paul Cézanne: Still Life with Skull c. 1890-1893, housed at Barnes Foundation

Beyond the visual connection there is also a linguistic connection. In Hebrew the word for summer fruit and the word for death are homonyms: qayitz and qetz sound alike and create a prophetic wordplay in the book of Amos found in both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible.

Shakespeare is filled with metaphors for death including the reference to “ripening” and “rotting” in As You Like It.

For Jazz lovers, you may already be acquainted with the haunting song Strange Fruit recorded by Billie Holiday, adapted from the poem by Abel Meeropol, one the darkest and most somber uses of metaphor, touching on the tragically literal.

Billy Holiday Sings Strange Fruit, Cover Art by Sten Axel Ahlstrand, Sonet Record and Commodore Records

The skillful use of metaphor can construct an image that speaks across visual and written art, history, scripture, and time. It is more than style; it is revelation.

The next time you encounter a visual or mental image in a painting, a novel, a song, or an advertisement, pause and look or think again. There is likely more than meets the eye.

It’s all around you.