What are examples of metaphors in Harry Potter?

Answer 1

There are hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of allusions in Harry Potter. Here is just a short list of a few:

Sirius Black's name and anamagus forms are both allusions to astronomy and folklore. His first name, Sirius, is another name for the "Dog Star," part of the constellation Canis Major, otherwise known as the "Great Dog." Considering his anamagus form of a great black dog, this fits extremely well. The fact that he is a big black dog and is mistaken for the Grim is an allusion to English folklore, which the Grim is a part of.

Remus Lupin's name is an allusion to Roman mythology. The founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were said to be raised by wolves, which Remus' name and anamagus form allude to. Also, in Deathly Hallows, his codename is Romulus, another direct allusion to this.

Fluffy, the three-headed dog in Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone, is an allusion to the mythological creature Cerberus in Greek mythology, who was a three-headed dog that guarded the Underworld. Also, like Fluffy, the Greek hero Orpheus put Fluffy to sleep by playing music on his lyre. Oh, and Hagrid claims he bought Fluffy from a Greek man, which just further alludes to the myth.

These are just three examples of allusions in Harry Potter. If you think about it hard enough, you can come up with many, many more. If you're having trouble, you can just Google it, too; you're bound to come up with an infinite number of possibilities if need be.

Answer 2

There are many metaphors in Harry Potter. Some aren't exactly obvious. For one, there is the Mirror of Erised. It works by showing someone what their heart truly desires. Mirrors are often used as metaphors of perception. For example, in Sylvia Plath's "Mirrors," she writes, "Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me./Searching my reaches for what she really is./Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon./I see her back, and reflect it faithfully." The Sorcerer's Stone is also a great metaphor for human greed and the fascination with unending life. Dumbledore says to Harry, "the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all-the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." Destroying the stone also served as a metaphor for the fact that, although unending life may (magically) be possible, life will always end.

Answer 3

there are many. fred and george are an allusion to british nobility fred and Goerge who are actually real people in History. Remus lupin is an allusion to the wolf boy who was raised by a wolf. There are many allusions to The Bible as well.

Answer 4

In the first novel, the philosopher's stone itself is a notable metaphor. It represents something ultimately on achievable which people are constantly trying to reach anyways. One truly cannot live for ever, but the grandeur of such a dream means that people, such as Voldemort, will always strive to reach.

King's cross station is representative of quite literally a crossing point from the land of reality to the world of magic. The brick wall is something so mundane, yet when looked at from just the right perspective it unlocks a world full of magic. This is ultimately representative of Rowling's belief that many seemingly ordinary things in our world can unlock magic.

Those are just two of many, I encourage you to read further into the novels, as there are tons of metaphors out there!
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Answer 5

Parseltongue - which is fictive.

But in real life: similes (a lot), alliterations, metaphors and parallelism.