Personification: A personification is giving a non-human human qualities. There are many personifications used in this story, the one that stuck with me the most is “the sun is painting”. I think this was the one I remembered because of the beautiful image it brings to mind. The sun brings light to our world and light brings colour. It is as if each morning the sun takes the blank black canvas of the night and paints it the bright and vibrant colours of the day. The layers of the sunrise and the pastel colours it casts on the world act as the base for the ones we see when we awake.
Simile: A simile is a comparison using the words “like” or “as”. In this story Lessing describes the air as smelling like a challenge. The air can’t really smell like a challenge but if he had an intuition that something was going to happen that would make sense. Using one sense to describe another really makes the readers feel that the intensity is building.
Metaphor: A metaphor occurs when one thing is compared to another without the words “like” or “as” present. Because of the was Lessing described the boy kicking at the skeleton sulkily it was like he was a small boy again. He felt this way because sulkily means to do something in a pouty way and only small children pout.
Paradox: A paradox is a phrase that is self-contradictory. When the boy “sleeps with vigilantes” he is performing a paradox. Vigilant is being aware of your surroundings and the dangers around you. It is impossible to be vigilant while sleeping which is why it is a paradox.
Synecdoche: A synecdoche is when a small part is used to describe the whole thing. When Doris Lessing describes the window of the house she is really is talking about the whole house.