24 pages • 48 minutes read
Two Words
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Literary Devices
Irony
Isabel Allende uses irony in the story to create a humorous effect or emphasize a theme by conveying an idea in a way that is intentionally contradictory. For example, the protagonist is a wordsmith, storyteller, and seller of words with an unlimited vocabulary. She is also capable of inventing new words, and she begins her journey toward mastery of language by learning every word of the dictionary, an impossible task. However, when she is finished, she tosses it into the water, claiming that she refuses to cheat her customers by selling them words she copied from a book. Despite words’ being plentiful and freely available to all, the narrator claims that Belisa had no name because her parents were too poor to provide one.
Metaphor
Allende uses the recurring metaphor of the journey to represent change, growth, and self-determination. The initial treacherous journey Belisa makes to escape the harsh conditions and almost inevitable tragedy of her home is a metaphor for renewal and the effort to take control of one’s life. At the end of this perilous journey, Belisa finds new life when she discovers the Power of Words. Her subsequent journeys from village to village as a storyteller represent the independence Belisa has achieved. Allende also uses metaphor to characterize the Colonel, who has “dark skin and the ferocious eyes of a puma” (7). Pumas are predators, so this conveys her captor as dangerous and ferocious. In the closing lines of the story, “the whole world could see the voracious puma-eyes soften” (10) as Belisa approaches the Colonel; this extends the metaphor to demonstrate that the predator is tamed.
Simile
Allende uses similes—comparisons using like or as—to create powerful vivid images that enhance the dramatic mood of the event she describes. These images accentuate the emotional depth of the story. For example, she likens Belisa’s kidnapping to being slung “like a sea bag across the rump of El Mulato’s mount” (6). This conveys the violent nature of her capture and her dehumanization; a sea bag is akin to a duffel bag, an item that is flung around carelessly and purely utilitarian. The narrator also describes the Colonel’s obsession with Belisa’s two secret words as “buried like daggers in his gut” (11). This conveys the invasive nature of her words and the pain that they cause; the words are trapped inside him, sharp-edged and continually prompting pain.
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By Isabel Allende
