Analogy

Etymology and Meanings of Literary Device of Analogy

Etymologically, the term analogy is a derivative of a Latin term, analogia, which also exists in the Greek language with the same spellings. It is made up of two-word ana- which means according to and logos which means ratio. In other words, it means proportion or correspondence. It is mostly used in mathematics in logical questions as Plato has used in the meanings of likeness or proportion between different things.

Semantically, it is used for comparison between two things on the basis of resemblance or similarities. It is a noun with plural analogies.

Definition of Literary Device of Analogy

As a literary term, analogy helps build a relationship based on the similarity between two ideas, concepts, characters, thematic strands, motifs, or even plots. This analogous relationship further helps build or create ideas.

Common Examples of Analogy

1. The hammer is to nail as the comb is to hair.
2. White is to black as up is to down.
3. The mansion is to the shack as a yacht to a dinghy
4. Bees is to hive as bears are to den.

Literary Examples of Analogy

Example # 1

From Macbeth by William Shakespeare

There if I grow,
The harvest is your own.

My plenteous joys,

Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves

In drop of sorrow.

These lines occur in Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Banquo speaks the first two lines, while the next three lines were spoken by King Duncan. Here Banquo is comparing himself to wheat, while the second the king is equating his joys with drops of water. This type of equation of things with different things is a literary analogy.

Example # 2

From First Inaugural Address by Franklin D. Roosevelt

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Roosevelt speaks these lines in his First Inaugural Address. Interestingly, this literary analogy compares fear with fear that does not exist and is nameless. However, he thinks that it could be converted into a different type of other feelings if an effort is made.

Example # 3

From Hamlet by William Shakespeare

So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a Satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember?

This beautiful analogy that Hamlet uses to compare Hyperion to Satyr. He thinks that King Claudius is to Hamlet as Hyperion is to Satyr. This analogy shows how Shakespeare has belittled Claudius when compared to Hamlet just to raise his status in terms of legitimacy.

Example # 4

From A Birthday by Christina Rossetti

My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a water’d shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell.

These lines occur in the poem of Christina Rossetti, “A Birthday.” Although she has extensively used similes to show what her heart is this is also a good use of different analogies to show the people how she equates her heart with a singing bird or a rainbow shell.

Example # 5

From Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

George lay back on the sand and crossed his hands under his head, and Lennie imitated him, raising his head to see whether he was doing it right. “God, you’re a lot of trouble,” said George. “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.”

Although both George and Lennie are just sitting, Lennie’s imitation of the acts of George shows that he wants to seek an analogy with him. He wants to look similar to him and then do what George is doing. This living analogy, however, does not suit him.

Example # 6

Analogy in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe

The implicit analogy in the story is between the building and the cask of Amontillado. Both are very old, very tricky, and very intoxicating in that Fortunato does not suspect Montresor of taking him to the inner catacomb by deception. Rather, he thinks that he is a connoisseur of Amontillado as well as the catacomb where he finally finds himself trapped to death.

How to Create Analogy

1. Plan a story and think about different analogies to include.
2. Think about the relationship between the analogous things.
3. Write a sentence or two to see whether the similarities exist.
4. Use analogy to relate things. Most often, characters and their traits are related to each other through similes or metaphors.

Benefits of Using Analogy

1. Analogies make things clear and distinct from each other.
2. The use of analogies helps readers perceive different relationships.
3. Analogies help the readers to understand things easily by grasping their dimensions and other structural features.
4. Analogies help writers to convey their messages effectively by utilizing relationships of features, traits, and character traits.

Literary Device of Analogy in Literary Theory

1. Although analogy as an important figure of speech is also an integral part of formalism literary theory, it is also important in readers’ response theory, structuralism as well as deconstruction literary theory.
2. Analogy is also important in postcolonialism literary theory where it is used mostly to understand power, identity, and subjectivity as well as their relationships.
3. Analogies are also used in indigenous critical theory, queer theory, critical race theory, and postmodern literary theory. Most of these include biological analogies, spiritual analogies, physical analogies, and mathematical analogies.

Suggested Readings

Aubusson, Peter J., Allan G. Harrison, and Stephen M. Ritchie. “Metaphor And Analogy.” Metaphor and Analogy in Science Education. Springer, Dordrecht, 2006. 1-9. Abrams, Meyer Howard, and Geoffrey Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.