Editor's Choice
What are examples of metaphor, understatement, and hyperbole in To Kill a Mockingbird, chapters 12–31?
Quick answer:
In chapters 12-31 of To Kill a Mockingbird, metaphors include Atticus saying racism makes men "lose their heads" and calling a white man who cheats a black man "trash." Understatement is seen when Atticus describes racial injustice as merely "cheating." Hyperbole is used when Scout calls Maycomb "ancient" and a "cotton penitentiary," and when Jem says one drop of black blood makes someone "all black." Additionally, Atticus's "blind spots" metaphor highlights mental biases.
There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life. (chapter 23)
This first quotation, spoken by Atticus, includes a metaphor : "that makes men lose their heads." Atticus is talking about the emotional baggage of racial prejudice. Lots of people at this time in America considered black people to be animalistic, dangerous, lecherous, and violent, and, because they believed this, there was a great deal of hatred and fear of black people. It is these emotions that Atticus says make people metaphorically "lose their heads." The metaphor in this instance implies that this emotional baggage that comes with racism makes people lose their capacity for rational thought, which of course resides in...
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the head.
As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash. (chapter 23)
In this second quotation, spoken again by Atticus, there is another example of a metaphor with "that white man is trash": these men that Atticus speaks of aren't literally trash, but the metaphor connotes the worthlessness and the impurity of these men who take advantage of their race to cheat others who are persecuted because of theirs.
In this same quotation, the reference to white men who "cheat" black men might also be considered an example of understatement. As we are all too aware with the trial of Tom Robinson, such white men do far worse than "cheat." The word "cheat" here can be considered a euphemism. Atticus is understating the extent of the "cheating" because he is still talking to a young Scout.
Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed. (chapter 25)
In this third quotation, attributable this time to Scout, there is another example of a metaphor. Tom was not literally dead the moment Mayella screamed, but the metaphor emphasizes how hopeless and inevitable his fate was once a white girl decided to cry foul against a black man. The metaphor indicates that Tom, from that moment on, was a dead man walking. It also, of course, highlights how unfair and prejudicial the legal system was, being permeated by racism.
I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away. Immediately. (chapter 14)
In this fourth quotation, Scout is appalled at the prospect of being dressed "like a lady." She metaphorically refers to the clothes she is expected to wear as a "cotton penitentiary" to suggest how trapped and confined she would feel if obliged to behave according to the more limiting standards expected of women. At the end of the quotation, there is also an example of hyperbole. When Scout declares that the thought of wearing these clothes makes her want to run away, she is exaggerating so as to convey the extent of her disgust.
"That's what I thought," said Jem, "but around here once you have a drop of Negro blood, that makes you all black." (chapter 16)
In this final quotation, Jem employs hyperbole when he says that even a drop of black blood somewhere in your ancestry would be enough for some of the people of Maycomb County to call you, and persecute you as "all black." This is an exaggeration, but it serves to highlight how racist some of the people in Maycomb County are and also how absurd and arbitrary that racism is.
In Chapter 13, Scout discusses how old Maycomb is, calling it "ancient." She also says that the first tavern in the area was founded "in the dawn of history." Scout is clearly exaggerating (hyperbole); although Maycomb is old, it isn't ancient (this would be something like 100 B. C.) and the tavern began much more recently than the dawn of history.
But Maycomb would have been closer to the river had it not been for the nimble-wittedness of one Sinkfield, who in the dawn of history operated an inn where two pig-trails met, the only tavern in the territory.
In Chapter 16, Atticus talks about the mob that confronted him at the jail the night before. When Scout asks about Walter Cunningham Sr., Atticus says he is basically a good man but has his "blind spots." He doesn't mean this literally. He means that Walter has some flaws. This flaw happens to be the inability or unwillingness to rise above racist and/or simplistic thinking about Tom Robinson. Blind spots - a metaphor describing mental faults, not actual sight problems.
At the beginning of Chapter 23, Miss Stephanie relates the story of how Bob Ewell spit on Atticus and challenged him to fight. Atticus replies that he is too old and calmly walks away. Miss Stephanie says he could be "right dry" sometimes. This is a bit of an understatement. He is not just replying in dry conversation; he has a zen-like calm, focus, and understanding of the situation.