A Promise
Not the promise, necessarily, but certain a promise is made that is filled with metaphor. At least in the mind of the character making the promise. He has promised to repay those to whom he owes. This is a list constituted by many, so there is a line and not everybody should expect repayment immediately. Nevertheless, promises made are intended to be promises kept:
“He’s made the same promise to a couple of other people in recent months and always meant it fervently, but he especially means it today because this really is a turning point and he can feel it. He made a terrible mistake when he exiled himself. Return is the only solution. Not if, but when. And already, as he draws closer to the source, he can sense his future swelling with promise, like a melon ripening under his hand.”
Keeping Promises
Ma is tough. When she tells you that you are going to keep the promise you made, you better believe you keep the promise you made. Pa, however, is not quite so tough. Metaphor is used exquisitely to reveal this divide:
“You will keep your promise, she says. Not clear to either of them whether it’s a statement or a question.
What promise is that?
You know. What Ma asked you to do.
Pa is weary, almost granular, all the sand might run out of him soon. Ja, he says vaguely, if I promised then I’ll do it.”
Multiple Metaphors
It is not uncommon in this book to run across complex sentences constructed with multiple metaphors working at once in conjunction. This is not that Hemingwayesque kind of writing that expects you to do the work of the writer. The author is laying things out in dense, rich, vivid language that allows readers to place the bulk of their analysis some place other than trying to figure out what the author left out and why:
“She feels ugly when she cries, like a tomato breaking open, and thinks that she must get away, away from this horrible little room with its parquet floor and barking Maltese poodle and the eyes of her aunt and uncle sticking into her like nails.”
Darkness
Darkness is the dominant metaphor in literature of the modern age. It began creeping its way up the ladder of utilization in the last 1800’s until things kicked into high gear following the revelations of totalitarian cruelty just before the mid-century mark in the 20th century. Apartheid played its own not insubstantial role in that attaining this pre-eminence. Strangely, however, its limited use here is geared not toward evil specifically but is limited to a kind of collision between the literal and figurative:
“By now it’s late, close to midnight, not so many cars on the road. Away from the street lights the darkness bulges in, crammed with emptiness and threat.”
Amor and Astrid
Amor and Astrid are two sisters. They do not really along as well that well. Or, at least, Astrid is not too crazy about Amor. But family is family, right? And, besides, Amor is, well, what they sometimes call, using air quotes, different:
“Why is she confessing this to her younger sister, whom she doesn’t like? There’s something about Amor that makes you feel you can. What used to seem blank and stupid in her, almost like brain damage, now seems like the opposite, silence and attentiveness, a kind of intelligence. She’s somebody you can tell things to.”
