The Utilization Of Metaphor, By Malcolm Lawry

As readers, we must paint a picture in our minds to understand a story from a characters perspective. By doing so, we can infer their true feelings and emotions. Authors often use literary elements and techniques to do so. In "Ultramarine," written by Malcolm Lawry, the utilization of metaphor, simile, and personification contribute to the stories picture of Dana Hilliot's life as he ventures off into the world for the first time as a sailor. To begin, Dana talks about how long the days are. He notes, "The whole deep blue day is before me" (Lowry 4). This serves as a metaphorical quote that represents how long the days feel for him. All he sees is the blue sea ahead of him and he misses his lover; longing to see her again. Dana exclaims, "And so I sit, chipping, dreaming of you Janet, until the iron facing shows, or until eight bells go, or until the bosum comes and knocks us off" (Lowry 54). These factors help in contirbution to creating a picture of Dana himself because we as readers can imagine him and his surroundings through the metaphorical words he says. Everything that he does is for her and he will contunue to do so until he is able to see her once again.

Dana compares his life on sea to an image we can place in our heads. He states, "For this is what sea life is like now - a domestic servant on a treadmill in hell"(Lowry 8). This simile is ironic because he came from a well-off family and most likely had a servant before, but now he feels like one. He describes his life as "hell" now, meaning it is unenjoyable and neverending. We can conclude that Dana may be feeling miserable here because of it. The simile, "The arm swings like a rocking machine" exemplifies how it is the same repeptititveness every day for him (Lowry 53). Everyday is the same stuff that he dislikes and it becomes more and more tiring everyday for