Saturday, October 31, 2009
Metaphor and Metonymy
In Cynthia Ozick's "The Shawl," Rosa Lublin develops an obsession with the shawl that once belonged to her daughter Magda. In class, we talked about the difference between representation/metaphor and extension/non-representation/metonymy. Does the shawl, the actual object, function in the narrative as metaphor or metonymy? Both? Neither? Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The shawl as an actual object functions as both a metaphor and a metonymy. It metaphorically acts as a protective shield from the outside world, both for Magda and Rosa. Rosa uses the shawl as a way to create a life for her daughter that died, using it to shield her memory of actual events. Without the shawl, she is open and unprotected from intruders. It functions as metonymy because it becomes an actual extension of herself as she uses it to remember Magda. When Rosa requests the shawl from her niece, she is requesting a piece of her that she feels is missing. Once that piece arrives, she feels whole enough to face her new found friend and what might lie ahead.
ReplyDeleteSarah Wissel
ReplyDeleteIn the first part of Ozick's The Shawl, "the shawl" itself serves as a metaphor for security and comfort. It keeps Magda's sense of security constant--she carries it everywhere with her. Ozick speaks of "the shawl's good flavor, milk of linen" (5). Here, the shawl is represented as something that provides nourishment--"milk." The shawl was "Magda's own baby, her pet, her little sister" (6). The shawl was Magda's companion, her source of security in an uncertain world. When this section ends, the shawl is all that is left of Magda after her murder, and it comes to be a metaphor for Magda herself. Eventually, as time goes on, the shawl becomes a metonymy, an extension of Magda and an extension of Rosa's past. It is all she has left of her young daughter. When the shawl "comes to visit" so does Magda's appearance. The two are intertwined. When seeing the shawl, Rosa thinks of Magda and what the shawl meant to her. Stella is concerned with Rosa having the shawl, thinking that her having it was a "trauma" or "fetish" (31). The reason Stella thinks this is an unhealthy thing for Rosa is because the shawl enhances Rosa's denial of Magda's death. The shawl, in a way, helps perpetuate the illusion of Magda's continued existence for Rosa.
Not directly related to the question, but I`d like to bring this up:
ReplyDeleteIsn`t Rosa relation to Stella in the firat part of the Shawl somewhat similar to the relation of the Fews in the Sonderkommando to the ones killed by them? Both Rosa and the Sonderkommando had the choice of refusing their fate and fighting back. Maybe they would lose their lives, but if many fought back, wouldn`t it be a better way to lose one`s life than only sitting and waiting for the "meeting with the death chamber"? Wouldn`t have it been a better choice for Rosa to run and get her child back to her arms? It would`ve probably meant suicide for Rosa alone, but not for thousands and thousands together.
However, instead of refusing, both Rosa and the Sonderkommandos resigned themselves and hur their owm - for they were easier targets. Of course hope and the natural instinct of survival more the necessarily excuse their actions (or lack of). Even so, I belive there will always be this question? what would`ve happened if they had fought back?
Fabricio Coelho
The shawl acts as a metaphor in the majority of the text. While the shawl is a metaphor for Rosa’s sanctuary and place of peace, it is also a symbol of power which allows her to move on. The shawl is a security blanket for Rosa as it once was for her young daughter. At first, Rosa clings to the mere idea of the shawl, while still in Stella’s possession, because losing the shawl is what lead to Magda’s death, or so Rosa believes. She struggles for much of the novel because she longs for the safety of the shawl. Although Magda never leaves Rosa spiritually, Rosa does find herself able to forget about Stella when she has the shawl in her hands. For example, at the sound of Stella’s voice from the other end of the phone uttering “long distance,” Madga suddenly “sprang to life” and the “whole room was full of Magda” which allowed Rosa to take the shawl and place it over the receiver and say “good-bye” to Stella and her past (64). The idea of the shawl keeps Rosa guarded and locked within herself and her past but when she has the physical item she is able to participate in reality, for example by spending time with Mr. Persky. She begins to accept others when she moves the “shawl off the phone” and allows Mr. Persky to come up to both her apartment as well as into her life (70).
ReplyDelete