Blighted hope of deliverance (Metaphor)
During the Civil War many slaves were escaping from their masters to the Union army which was regarded the only rescue and haven for them at least, they thought so. But, as it happens, it wasn’t so easy because there were many cases, when the escape wasn’t successful and people were turned back to bondage the author calls them “adventurous souls” and emphasizes feelings of those people whose “hope of deliverance” was “blighted” to deliver these feeling to the reader.
Slavery with cast of a glamour (Metaphor)
The author uses this metaphor to show how the slavery changes and influences the society, its consciousness, way of thinking and attitude to the world and current events: “But slavery had cast such a glamour over the Nation, and so warped the consciences of men, that they failed to read aright the legible transcript of Divine retribution which was written upon the shuddering earth, where the blood of God's poor children had been as water freely spilled”.
Contraband of War (Metaphor)
The narrator calls slaves a contraband of war, and it is very symbolic, because slaves, who escaped from their masters to the Union army were not the property of their masters anymore but a property of the army, they had joined like horses which are not sent back: “if a slave runs away from the Secesh to the Union lines. He is called a contraband, just the same as if he were an ox or a horse. They wouldn't send the horses back, and they won't send us back”. And for slaves it is the lesser of two evils.
The woman as fair as a lily, beautiful as a houri, and chaste as ice, but still she is a negro (Simile)
This vivid simile expresses the gap between white and colored races which was deep in people’s heads in the period of Civil War. Lorraine, the relative of Iola’s father, is against of his marriage with one of his slaves, because it was illegal and inappropriate for rich white man to unite his life with the misfit. And it doesn’t matter how beautiful and perfect she is, the fact that she is a negro declines all her advantages.
Slavery is a sword that cuts both ways (Metaphor)
This metaphor emphasizes that slavery is a powerful instrument which can be both positive for white and black people and dangerous for them in the same time. Slaves got used to serve and freedom is something new and wild for them, that is why they consider it as a tool for revenge and in this case white people are the one who suffer. The masters and slaves have changed their roles in this game.
