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Exploring Conceptual Metaphors in Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart': A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis

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Abstract

Conceptual metaphors shape our perception and understanding of looking at the world. The cognitive linguistic approach to a narrative study provides necessary tools to explain the thinking pattern and the worldview of fictional characters. This study explores and analyzes the conceptual metaphors used by the main character in Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The TellTale Heart'. Using the conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), this study explores what precisely was going on in the narrator's mind and how all that resulted in the killing of the old man. In addition, those conceptual metaphors are then analyzed through cognitive linguistic lens.
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Available online athttp://cusitjournals.com/index.php/CURJLL
CITY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH JOURNAL OF LITERATURE AND LINGUISTICS
Vol (6), No. (2)
Exploring Conceptual Metaphors in Edgar Allan Poe's ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’: A
Cognitive Linguistic Analysis
Awaisuddin1, Amjad Saleem2, Honggang Wang3
Keywords:
CMT,
Cognitive Linguistics,
Source Domain,
Short Story,
Target Domain,
The Tell-Tale Heart.
Abstract
Conceptual metaphors shape our perception and understanding of
looking at the world. The cognitive linguistic approach to a
narrative study provides necessary tools to explain the thinking
pattern and the worldview of fictional characters. This study
explores and analyzes the conceptual metaphors used by the main
character in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart’.
Using the conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and
Johnson (1980), this study explores what precisely was going on in
the narrator’s mind and how all that resulted in the killing of the
old man.
In addition, those conceptual metaphors are then analyzed through
cognitive linguistic lens.
1Mphil/master's in Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from Yangzhou University, China.
afridiawais52@gmail.com
2Assistant Professor, Department of English and Applied Linguistics, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.
amjad.saleem@uop.edu.com
3Professor, College of International Studies, Yangzhou University, China.
whg793@126.com
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INTRODUCTION
The current study takes a cognitive linguistic approach to the study of conceptual metaphors used by the
main character in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart through the perspective of
Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) in cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguistics is a branch of
linguistics that looks at language in terms of concepts. It sees language as a mental phenomenon and
argues that language is embodied as well as situated in a particular environment. According to
Dabrowska and Divjak (2015), “Cognitive Linguistics is an approach to language study based on the
assumptions that our linguistic abilities are firmly rooted in our general cognitive abilities, that meaning
is essentially conceptualization, and that grammar is shaped by usage” (p. 1). Geeraerts and Cuyckens
(2010) believe that “Cognitive Linguistics is not a single theory of language but rather a cluster of
broadly compatible approaches” (p. 3). For cognitive linguists, meaning comes first which depends on
the context and social interaction and which can be acquired and explained in terms of general cognition.
Construction grammar, cognitive grammar, conceptual metaphor and conceptual blending, image
schemas and force dynamics, conceptual organization, categorization, metonymy, frame semantics, and
iconicity are areas that are studied and explored by cognitive linguistics. The present study investigates
Poe’s story from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) proposed by Lakoff and
Johnson in 1980. Before CMT, a metaphor was considered only a matter of language or words or an
artistic use of language. However, according to Lakoff and Johnson (1980):
Metaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourisha matter
of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. Moreover, metaphor is typically viewed as
characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or action (p. 4).
Lakoff and Johnsosn (1980) believe that we think as well as act metaphorically. Our mind is
metaphorical in nature which means that the human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and
that human thinking pattern is largely metaphorical. Conceptual metaphors are pervasive in our day-to-
day lives. Conceptual Metaphor Theory provides us a framework for understanding an abstract concept
in terms of a concrete one. It makes a distinction between a source domain which is concrete and a target
domain which is abstract. This research examines the unnamed protagonist, who is the narrator of the
story too, in order to understand and explain the character’s worldview and unravel their thought process.
The narrator of the story insists on their sanity after murdering an old man. The murderer kills the old
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man because they cannot stand his vulture-like eye which gives them a strange and cold feeling. The
murder is a calculated act and the murderer hides the old man’s dead body under the floorboards after
chopping it up into pieces. In the end, the protagonist’s guilt manifests itself because the phantom beating
of the old man’s heart causes them to go mad and reveals their crime to the police.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Thibodeau and Boroditsky (2011) argued that it is the metaphor that enables us to talk about complex
and abstract ideas. Metaphors enable people to sort out social issues and to collect information in order
to arrive at decisions. According to them, we find that the influence of the metaphorical framing effect
is covert: people do not recognize metaphors as influential in their decisions” (p. 1). They believe that
metaphors profoundly influence the way we conceptualize societal issues and that even a single
metaphor can stimulate substantial differences in opinion about how to solve social problems. Risdianto
(2014) analyzed Poe’s ‘The Black Cat’ from the perspective of conceptual metaphor theory and found
twelve conceptual metaphors used in twenty-one different sentences in the short story. According to
Risdianto, Poe used a variety of conceptual metaphors or metaphorical expressions effectively and
creatively in order to depict the psychological abnormality of the main character. He concluded that the
conceptual metaphors used in the story explained the paranoia and split personality of the narrator as the
main character of the story. Vengadasamy’s (2011) study on the two Malaysian short stories illustrates
how writers use metaphors as ideological constructs. He concluded: Metaphor analysis provides us with
a window into a writer’s thoughts and ideas” (p. 106).
Ali et al (2021) examined the mind style of the suffering protagonist in Katherine Mansfield’s short
story, ‘Miss Brill from the perspective of cognitive stylistics. They argue that metaphor is one of the
most influential tools of human cognition for the construction of mind style. Anh (2017) investigated
the conceptual metaphors that denote life in nineteen American and nineteen Vietnamese short stories
from 1975 to 1991 through the lens of conceptual metaphor theory. Examining the similarities and
differences between the two languages, she concluded that the abstract notion of life is commonly
perceived in terms of concrete concepts in both languages. Nadeem, et al (2020) analyzed conceptual
metaphors in Elif Shafak’s novel, The Forty Rules of Love where they investigated the use of two words
i.e. love” and journey as conceptual metaphors. Khaliq and Rahman (2020) analyzed the main
character, Mr. Ramsay, in Virginia Woolf’s novel, To the Lighthouse through the lens of conceptual
metaphor and blending theory. They concluded that “metaphors are not mere linguistic variety but are
programmed on a deeper level of cognitio n” (p. 133).
Yicai and Xueai (2021) collected conceptual metaphors from the film Zootopia and analyzed the
characteristics and applications of conceptual metaphors found in the film. They explored the film from
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the perspective of the three types of conceptual metaphors i.e., structural metaphors, orientational
metaphors and ontological metaphors. The study is helpful in improving people's metaphorical
awareness and in giving them better understanding and knowledge of the culture and in turn improving
the language and communication skills of the people. Sardaraz and Nusrat (2019) explored Ghani Khan’s
poetry from cognitive linguistic perspective to find out the conceptual schemas used in the description
of life and death in his poetry. They found that most of the conceptual metaphors in his poetry are similar
to those in the English language. They argued that These similarities support the view that conceptual
metaphor has cross cultural implications, and that languages across cultures are equally generated by
conceptual metaphor” (p. 28).
Li and Chi (2021) explored love metaphors’ from the cross-cultural perspective based on the figurative
expressions in Chinese and English poems. According to them, emotion is viewed as a kind of abstract
and private personal experience” (Li & Chi, 2021, p. 3359). They concluded that flower metaphors used
for love in Chinese and English poems were similar. This suggests that English and Chinese people talk
and conceptualize love in nearly same ways based on universal experiences and perceptions. However,
they also added that:
There are some variations if we analyze the metaphors at a specific level because of cognitive
preferences. For example, rose is a common flower to express love and describe beautiful beloved
ones in English poems, but Chinese poets prefer to use lotus and peach flower to conceptualize love
and refer to their beloved girls. (p. 3366)
The review of relevant literature suggests that Poe’s every short story offers a rich area of investigation
from the perspective of cognitive stylistics. Taking this into account, the current study examines one of
Poe’s well-known stories, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ for the conceptual metaphors employed by the main
character with a focus on their thought process in relation to the causes of the killing of the old man in
the story.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Methodology
With the help of Conceptual Metaphor Theory of Lakoff and Johnson (1980), this study analyzes the
main character’s perceptions about world and their outlook on life. Thirteen conceptual metaphors
identified in the story are analyzed to reveal the narrator’s worldview.
Conceptual Metaphor Theory
According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing
one kind of thing in terms of another” (p. 5). In other words, conceptual metaphor offers a window of
understanding one domain of experience (typically abstract) in terms of another (typically concrete).
Conceptual metaphor theory makes a distinction between two domains i.e., a source domain and a target
domain. A source domain is a concrete domain: it is something we can experience bodily. A target
domain, on the other hand, is an abstract one: it is something we cannot bodily experience. According
to Kövecses (2002), Conceptual metaphors employ a more abstract concept as a target and a more
concrete or physical concept as their source” (p. 6). This is because of the fact that concrete concepts
give us clearer explanation about abstract concepts and therefore, result in better understanding. For
example, in the conceptual metaphor TIME IS MONEY, the domain of money is concrete and the
domain of time is abstract. Money is thus a source domain and time is a target domain because we
understand time in terms of money such as, You are wasting your time’, ‘You are running out of time’,
‘I do not have the time to give you’, ‘How do you spend your time these days?’, ‘I have invested a lot
of time in her’, and so on. These are some of the expressions that we use in our everyday lives which
show that we understand time in terms of money. Conceptual metaphors are part of our everyday
language. For example, the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR is reflected in our everyday
language such as, ‘He attacked every weak point in my argument’, ‘You have to defend your argument’,
‘You are losing your argument’, and so on. In this scenario, we think of an argument as a war. Now, for
example, what will happen if we, according to Lakoff (1980), try to think of a culture where the argument
is viewed as a dance, not as a war? In this particular scenario, there would be no winning or losing, no
attacking or defending. There would be a balanced performance in which the participants would be seen
as performers. Understanding an argument in terms of a war creates a reality that is totally different from
understanding an argument in terms of a dance. People in such a culture would look at arguments
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differently and would talk about them differently as opposed to the people who view an argument as a
war. Conceptual metaphors shape the way we think, communicate and act. We perceive and act in
accordance with conceptual metaphors. Metaphors make our thoughts more vivid and interesting.
According to Lakoff and Johnson (2003), Metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language
but in thought and action as well. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and
act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature” (p. 4).
Evans and Green (2006) believe that “We not only speak in metaphorical terms, but also think in
metaphorical terms (p. 295). According to Semino (2002), Metaphor is seen not just as a linguistic
phenomenon, but as an important tool for thought, reasoning and action (p. 108). According to
Kövecses (2020), “Metaphor resides not only in language but also in thought. We use metaphors not
only to speak about certain aspects of the world but also to think about them (p. 6). So, we can say that
metaphor is not only a matter of language or words but also, a matter of thought.
Metaphors construct realities. When we think of something one way, one kind of reality is created as
opposed to thinking of the same thing in a different way which creates a different reality. Kövecses
(2020) believes that:
A major consequence of the idea that metaphors are conceptual in nature, i.e., that we conceive of
certain things in metaphorical ways, is that, since our conceptual system governs how we act in the
world, we often act metaphorically. When we conceptualize an intangible or less tangible domain
metaphorically as, and from the perspective of, a more tangible domain, we create a certain
metaphorical reality. We imagine life one way when we think of it as a journey, and in another way
when we think of it as a theatre play, as reflected in Shakespeare’s famous lines “All the world is a
stage / and all men and women are merely players”. The two source domains result in very different
views on life, and in this sense they create very different realities. (pp. 6-7)
According to Lakoff & Johnson (1980) and Lakoff (1993), when we come across any abstract or
unfamiliar or complex concept, first we make subjective judgments based on our experiences then we
conceptualize and visualize them with help of sensorimotor domains through cognitive mechanism of
conceptual metaphors. The conceptual metaphors help us to use the physical logic of grasping to reason
about understanding.
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DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Based on reading of the story, the following thirteen conceptual metaphors have been identified. In each
metaphor the abstract idea is understood in terms of a concrete one. In other words, a target domain is
understood in terms of a source domain.
Table 4.1
1. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day
and night.
In the above lines, the narrator says, it (idea) haunted me”, so here the notion of ideaacts as a target
domain while the word haunt” is used for ghosts that haunts people which acts as a source domain in
order to understand the target domain easily. The concept of “idea” is understood in terms of ghost
haunting the narrator.
Conceptual Metaphors
IDEA IS A GHOST
INSULT IS AN OBJECT
EMOTION IS TEMPERATURE
MIND IS AN OBJECT
LIFE IS AN OBJECT
TIME IS AN OBJECT
UNDERSTANDING IS SEEING
TERROR IS A PERSON
SOUL IS A PERSON
FEARS ARE HAIR
DEATH IS AN EVIL PERSON
ANXIETY IS A PERSON
TIME IS A MOVING OBJECT
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CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: IDEA IS A GHOST
Subjective Judgment:
Idea
Sensorimotor Domain:
Haunting
Primary Experience:
Idea being a ghost that haunts the narrator.
1. He had never given me insult.
In the above line, the concept of insult acts as a target domain while the verb give” is used for the
things that we can take from and give to people, especially by hand. So, here, the verb given suggests
that the narrator thinks of the idea of insult” as an object. The notion of insult which is an abstract
concept is understood in terms of an object which is typically concrete.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: INSULT IS AN OBJECT
Subjective Judgment:
Insult
Sensorimotor Domain:
Giving or taking an object
Primary Experience:
Imagining insult as a physical object that can be given just
like concrete object.
2. He had the eye of a vulturea pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my
blood ran cold; and so by degrees.
Emotions in English are understood as temperature. Emotions and temperature are closely related
through embodied processes which means emotions are associated with the concepts of temperature.
They are used in everyday language such as, warm and cold feelings, warm love, warm hug, chilled with
fear etc. In the line my blood ran cold” refers to the conceptual metaphor EMOTION IS
TEMPERATURE in which temperature acts as a source domain to express the emotion of fear easily.
In English, when something/someone makes your blood cold, it means that you are frightened. In
addition, when something/someone makes your blood boil, it means they make you angry. We can also
Idea
Ghost
Object
Insult
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use the verb “run such as, “my blood ran cold” as used by the narrator in the story which means they
are frightened by old man’s vulture-like eye. In addition, the narrator uses the phrase “and so by degrees”
which means that they actually look at emotions in terms of temperature because emotions cannot be
measured i.e., there is no such scale or device with which we measure our emotions but we can measure
the temperature. Therefore, this suggests that the narrator understands emotions as temperature.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: EMOTION IS TEMPERATURE
Subjective Judgment:
Emotion
Sensorimotor Domain:
Coldness
Primary Experience:
Emotions being measured in degrees just like temperature.
3. I made up my mind to take the life of the old man.
In the given line, the notion of mind” acts as a target domain in order to be understood in terms of an
object. The expression to make one’s mind” is used generally by the native speakers of English when
a person arrives at a decision about something. We know that mind is an abstract concept which cannot
be physically experienced. How do we then make up our mind? We use the expression to make up” to
refer to something concrete in relation to its composition or constitution. This is why the concept of
mind in the conceptual metaphor MIND IS AN OBJECT is understood in terms of an object.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: MIND IS AN OBJECT
Subjective Judgment:
Mind
Sensorimotor Domain:
Making
Primary Experience:
Imagining mind as a physical object that can be made for
deciding something.
4. I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.
Temperature
Emotion
Mind
Object
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Life is an abstract concept and conceptual metaphor such as LIFE IS A JOURNEY is used to understand
life in concrete terms. Here the notion of life” acts as a target domain because it is an abstract idea while
the concept of “journey” acts as a source domain because it is a concrete idea. In the above line, the old
man’s life is understood as an object. Normally, we give an object to and take it from people. Here, too,
the narrator thinks of the old man’s life as an object. The narrator says, “I made up my mind to take the
life of the old man” which suggests that the narrator considers his life an object which they are able to
take. In this conceptual metaphor, the notion of life acts as a target domain and the use of verb take”
makes it as an object.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: LIFE IS AN OBJECT
Subjective Judgment:
Life
Sensorimotor Domain:
Taking or giving an object
Primary Experience:
Experiencing life as a tangible object, which we can take
and give.
5. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously
to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night.
Time is an abstract concept that acts as a target domain here. There are different conceptual metaphors
used in English to understand time better such as, TIME IS MONEY. In this particular conceptual
metaphor, the notion of time” is understood in terms of “money”. Similarly, the native speakers of
English use the expression the day breaks” to refer to time when the night is over and the day starts off.
They think of time as an object because the verb “break” is used for concrete objects that can be broken.
The narrator also uses the expression, “when the day broke” suggesting that the narrator thinks of time
as an object.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: TIME IS AN OBJECT
Subjective Judgment:
Time
Object
Life
Time
Object
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Sensorimotor Domain:
Breaking
Primary Experience:
Imagining time as a physical object that can be broken,
leading to a sense of disruption or discontinuity in the flow
of time.
6. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just
at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.
Lakoff and Johnson (1980) discuss the conceptual metaphor UNDERSTANDING IS SEEING and
elaborate it in the following manner:
I see what you're saying. It looks different from my point of view. What is your outlook on that? I
view it differently. Now I've got the whole picture. Let me point something out to you. That's an
insightful idea. That was a brilliant remark. The argument is clear. It was a murky discussion. Could
you elucidate your remarks? It's a transparent argument. The discussion was opaque. (p. 38)
In the lines taken from the story, the narrator expects the readers to think of ‘understanding in terms of
seeing. This means that when a person sees something, they can comprehend it very well. We understand
things better when we see them or experience them with our own naked eyes which is why in this
conceptual metaphor, the narrator associates knowledge or understanding with vision or seeing because
when we gain knowledge about something, we understand it better. This suggests that knowledge is light
and having no knowledge is darkness or ignorance is darkness.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: UNDERSTANDING IS SEEING
Subjective Judgment:
Understanding
Sensorimotor Domain:
Vision
Primary Experience:
Getting information through seeing.
7. I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror.
The narrator thinks of the notion of “terror” as a person in the above line. Groaning is something a human
Understanding
Seeing
52
or an animal produces. It is a deep and loud sound produced when a person expresses unhappiness or
pain. But here the narrator understands the idea of terror” in terms of a person who groans when they
are in pain. Similarly, to the narrator, it seems as if the “terror” is in pain which is why it groans and the
narrator hears it. Moreover, it is not only “terror” but mortal terror” which suggests that the narrator
looks at it as a person because humans are mortal. So, in this conceptual metaphor, the “terror” acts a
target domain while the “person” acts as a source domain in order to understand the concept of terror
easily.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: TERROR IS A PERSON
Subjective Judgment:
Terror
Sensorimotor Domain:
Groaning
Primary Experience:
Imagining terror as a person who groans in state of
unhappiness.
8. It was not a groan of pain or of griefoh, no!it was the low stifled sound that arises from the
bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe.
Soul is an abstract entity. In the given lines, the narrator treats “soul as a human being. We know that
humans produce sounds and groan too, but soul cannot do so. In this conceptual metaphor, the notion of
soulacts as a target domain while the phrase the low stifled sound that arises from the soul refers to
the fact that it is the person who can produce such a sound.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: SOUL IS A PERSON
Subjective Judgment:
Soul
Sensorimotor Domain:
Groaning
Primary Experience:
Imagining soul as a person that can groan when
Person
Terror
Person
Soul
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overcharged with awe.
9. His fears had been ever since growing upon him.
Fear is one of the basic human emotions. It is an abstract concept which means we need to understand it
in terms of a concrete object. Here, the narrator thinks of the concept of fear as hair that grows on our
bodies. In this conceptual metaphor, the idea of fearsacts as a target domain while the verb growing
refers to it in terms of hair that acts as a source domain in order to understand it better.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: FEARS ARE HAIR
Subjective Judgment:
Fears
Sensorimotor Domain:
Growing
Primary Experience:
Imagining fears as hair that grows on our body.
10. Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the
victim.
Death is an abstract concept that is difficult to grasp. The narrator, in the above lines, considers it as an
evil person who can approach, and stalk people. Here, the target domain is “death” while the human
features such as, approaching, stalking and having a shadow make the narrator think of it as a person
that acts as a source domain.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: DEATH IS AN EVIL PERSON
Subjective Judgment:
Death
Sensorimotor Domain:
Chasing
Primary Experience:
Imagining death as an evil person who can stalk and chase a
person.
11. And now a new anxiety seized me.
Hair
Fears
Evil Person
Death
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Anxiety is an abstract concept. In the given line, the narrator thinks of it as a living entity because seizing
is the quality of a person or animal. This suggests that the narrator understands it in terms of a person.
In this conceptual metaphor, the concept of anxiety” acts as a target domain and the verb “seize” makes
the narrator understand it as a person that acts a source domain in order to comprehend the complex idea
of anxiety.
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: ANXIETY IS A PERSON
Subjective Judgment:
Anxiety
Sensorimotor Domain:
Being held by force
Primary Experience:
Experiencing anxiety as if it is a person who can take hold
of another person.
12. The old man's hour had come!
According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980):
Time in English is structured in terms of the TIME IS A MOVING OBJECT metaphor, with the
future moving toward us.
The proverb "Time flies" is an instance of the TIME IS A MOVING OBJECT metaphor. Since we
are facing toward the future, we get:
Coming up in the weeks ahead .. .
I look forward to the arrival of Christmas.
Before us is a great opportunity, and we don't want it to pass us by. (p. 35)
In the given line, the narrator also thinks of the notion of time” as a moving object”. In this scenario,
the idea of time” acts as a target domain in order to be understood easily in terms of an object that is
moving. The narrator comprehends the concept of time” as a moving object” because they say, “The
old man’s hour had come!” which does not mean that the hour had literally come but it is, actually,
understood as a moving object that had come towards the old man.
Anxiety
Person
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CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR: TIME IS A MOVING OBJECT
Subjective Judgment:
The passage of time
Sensorimotor Domain:
Motion
Primary Experience:
Experiencing the passage of time as an object that moves or
observes the motion.
The analysis of the data suggests that the narrator uses a variety of conceptual metaphors on different
occasions in the story. These conceptual metaphors tell us about the main character’s mind style,
especially how they comprehend the abstract or intangible concepts in terms of concrete or tangible
concepts.
Time
Moving
object
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CONCLUSION
To conclude, we can say that the story makes use of a variety of conceptual metaphors used by the main
character. These conceptual metaphors allow the author to reveal the inner world or mind style of the
narrator more vividly. Furthermore, conceptual metaphors allow the readers to get into the thoughts of
a literary character and to understand their worldview about something or someone. In this case, the
thirteen conceptual metaphors allow us to understand the worldview of the narrator. The analysis reveals
that, from the very beginning of the story, the narrator had been thinking of killing the old man. The idea
of killing sticks to him throughout and finds its final execution in killing the main. They show a violent
behaviour towards the body even after killing him just because the idea was haunting them like a ghost.
This may also be due to the fact that the narrator objectifies the old man’s life: they think of his life as
an object devoid of any worth.
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