The Use of Metaphors in the Chapter Nickel - Essay Example

?The Periodic Table Use of Metaphors in the Chapter Nickel This study is about the metaphors used by Primo Levi in writing the chapter nickel, the way they are used, and the importance they reveal throughout the chapter. There are various metaphors used in this chapter starting from the title of the chapter itself which is a name of a metal but represents the authors experience with certain kind of people. This is not the only metaphor used in this chapter there are various others like the submarine. Thesemetaphors make the author to be effective in explaining his experience in a disguised manner. Primo Levis a chemistry graduate of Jewish origin that had tried to look for work several times but in vain and was now looking for any sort of paid occupation (Levi 61). In this chapter, he tries to bring out his experience when he first acquired employment. He does this in a metaphorical way to enhance the chapter. He also explains in this chapter the experience he had with a certain persons. He also does this in a metaphorical way that sometimes appears more appropriate. In this chapter the author exploits the treasure of metaphors which in return plays a big role in making him achieve his objectives. In this study,we explore some of the metaphors he uses in this chapter and the reason why they are used. We will also explore their importance and try to understand the effect they have brought to the story. Moreover, we will look at one unique metaphor that is the title of the chapter, nickel and try to understand what it means. Furthermore, we will explore on its effectiveness in helping the author to explain his experience and in discussing the major themes of these chapter. Importance of Metaphors in this chapter Metaphors are very important tools of English language. They are greatly revealed by the wide range in which they are used in different kinds of literature. In this chapter the metaphors used have various importance depending on the context in which they were used. The chapter title itself is a metaphor that represents an aspect of Primo Levi’s life. The mainimportance of the metaphors used in this chapter is that they explain the authors experience in a simplified and more understandable manner. Levi uses metaphors to explain the experience he had from his first day at work (Levi 64). He also uses other kinds of metaphors to explain his first experience with his assistant, Lieutenant and the director as well as other employees in the plant. He also uses metaphors to explain his experience in his workplace and his experience with his tools of work. Moreover the use of the word submarine in describing where they lived makes understanding of how this place looked like simpler. Another importance of metaphors used in this chapter is that they have described the people involved in this chapter in the clearest manner. Levi uses metaphors to describe almost everybody involved in this chapter. He uses creature to describe his assistant (Levi 64), by doing this, Levi brings out some of the aspects she had in an indirect way.He also uses businesslike language to describe the lieutenant and the director to bring out their personality in the most understandable manner (Levi 64). Levi also uses simpleton to describe Bortalasso, which actually make the reader to clearly understand what kind of a person this individual was (Levi 69). Another importance of metaphors in this chapter is describing places in the clearest possible manner and the activities that take place there indirectly. Levi calls the place where they were living a submarine to show how it looked like. These makes the reader to have a picture of how that place was and thus he can understand the themes of this chapter better (Levi 66).He also uses metaphor to describe his place of work. Levi uses the word “world enchantment” to show how interesting the place and the duties he had been assigned were to him and the much he enjoyed them.These metaphors describe these places in the briefest manner while ensuring that all the details are revealed and thus making the chapter to be more easily understandable. Another importance of metaphors is their puzzling effects to the reader. Some of the metaphors used in this chapter are puzzling and thus requiring the reader to concentrate in the story when reading this chapter. Some of these puzzling metaphors are “some space had been localized in space”, “nickel” and other mineral names used to represent bedazzlement, fraud, and deception (Levi 64). This effect makes the reader curious to know more about them and hence making him to concentrate on the story written in this chapter. Moreover, these metaphors produces an interesting effect to the story in the chapter which makes the reader want to read it again and again and thus increasing his chances of understanding the story written in this chapter. There are various reasons, which made Levi to use metaphors in this chapter. The reasons are indicated by their importance and what they achieved. The most important reason was to make the story in the chapter interesting and attractive to read. The metaphors like “the submarine” and “calling his assistant a creature” and several others make this chapter very interesting to read. As the story becomes interesting, many people will read the story and thus the intended information will reach many people. Moreover, as the story is very interesting, those who happen to read it will advice their friends to do so thus increasing the number of people who reads this chapter. This ensures that this information reaches many people. Another reason is to disguise the subject and the main themes of this chapter. Levi uses the chapter title nickel to disguise what the chapter deals with and later try to bring it out at the end of the chapter this creates suspense and thus ensures that one reads the chapter to the end. He also uses other mineral names to disguise various themes of this chapter that is the different categories of people and thus people who do not like studying about people can still study this chapter and understand the themes. The most significant metaphor in this whole chapter is the chapter name itself, nickel. The metaphor nickel represents the category ofpeople who can be generous and let you find a treasure beneath the tip of your pickax or they can deceive and bedazzle you, make modest pyrite to glitter like gold or disguising zinc in the garb of tin(Levi 64).This metaphor helps the author to discuss several themes at once when explaining or discussing his experiences. One of these themes includes people who can assist other people, an organization, or a nation to achieve great heights. Another theme is people who can trick and confuse you or even the organization or nation when it is trying as much as possible to achieve great improvements. Furthermore, the other theme is the group of people who make this to look very important than they really are. All these themes are discussed under the umbrella of the word nickel. The reason that makes this metaphor effective in explaining the themes of this chapter is the properties associated with the metal nickel. Nickel is a scarce and rare metal that compares with how this group of people it represents can be rare to find. In addition, a valuable commodity compares with the importance these people have in certain situations. Moreover, when the author aimsat extracting nickel in very large quantity, another obstacle comes into play like the unavailability of the magnet to separate materials in form of fine powder. This compares very well with how sometimes in an effort to find a particular category of people; we can encounter an obstacle that can make it impossible to do so and thus making our efforts futile. Another thing that makes this metaphor very effective is what is required in extracting nickel from its sources as well as its uses. To extract nickel high temperatures is important as well as high pressure. This compare with some of the requirements when one is trying to obtain a particular category of people. This category should have a particular level of personality and ethics. Nickel has different uses, which compares with the different importance of a particular category of individuals. Conclusion The metaphors used in this story have made it very interesting and understandable. We can conclude that the author has achieved his objective for using the metaphors. A very good achievement that the author achieved is revealed by the way the title of the chapter, nickel, disguises the subject and the major themes of this chapter. The author has made sure that the metaphors used in this chapter are effectively used and thus they have not made understanding of this chapter to be difficult. I therefore recommend that other authors should exploit the richness of metaphors but also make sure that they use them effectively. Works Cited Levi, Primo. The Periodic Table. London: Penguin Books Limited, 2010. Print. Read More