Openings
Woolf’s talent for metaphor and simile is one of greatest strengths. Little wonder, then, that she peppers figurative language throughout all her stories. The story “An Unwritten Novel” opens with a demonstration of the confidence possessed. Commencing stories with metaphor is a tricky business; a grabber for those with a preference for it, but a pitfall in the hands of those who prefer their fiction more direct:
“Such an expression of unhappiness was enough by itself to make one’s eyes slide above the paper’s edge to the poor woman’s face— insignificant without that look, almost a symbol of human destiny with it.”
Endings
Even trickier is concluding a story on a metaphor, even one that is a bit more direct like a simile. The risk here is ambiguity; if the reader feels the figurative language does satisfy their need for emotional resolution, an author may lose them temporarily. If on top of the lack of emotional satisfaction, they feel like the metaphor is a copout for not really even having a ending, the author may never be read by them again. The story “Kew Gardens” ends on a note of ambiguity, but Woolf cleverly gets around alienating the reader who has come this far: there is not emotional investment to be made and the ending is completely in sync with the story’s impressionistic focus on technique rather than engagement.
“But there was no silence; all the time the motor omnibuses were turning their wheels and changing their gear; like a vast nest of Chinese boxes all of wrought steel turning ceaselessly one within another the city murmured; on the top of which the voices cried aloud and the petals of myriads of flowers flashed their colours into the air.”
Book Learning
“A Society” is a story obsessed with a theme recurring in Woolf’s literary output: the power of the writer to shape and mold society. A young woman learns that the only way she can claim the substantial inheritance of her father is to literally read every book in the London Library. But this seemingly monumental task is merely a mask behind which Woolf’s true intention lies: most books are written by men and therefore one’s view of the world is shaped by the male perspective. Because, as becomes increasingly clear:
“fiction is the mirror of life.”
"Blue and Green"
This collection contains selection titled “Blue and Green” which are amongst the most experimental works in the canon of Woolf’s short fiction. The part subtitled “Blue” is a block of sentences running about 120 words. “Green” is likewise constructed, though a little longer. Impressionistic sketches devoid of any traditional elements of narrative, “Blue and Green” is best enjoyed as an exercise in imagery in which each part commences with metaphor:
“The pointed fingers of glass hang downwards.” (From Green)
“The snub-nosed monster rises to the surface and spouts through his blunt nostrils two columns of water, which, fiery-white in the centre, spray off into a fringe of blue beads.” (From Blue)
"Death was the glass"
The central metaphor at work in the story “A Haunted House” is the pane of glass which acts to obstruct the ghosts from entering the haunted house. When the windows are shut and the panes reflect the light, the ghosts are forbidden from entry. The glass is therefore an example of metaphor that is also literal.
