All But My Life Figurative Language

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Samuel Smiles, a Scottish author and government reformer, once stated, “Hope… is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.” Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Holocaust survivor, saw hope in people and her future of surviving. The theme in Gerda Weissmann Klein’s All But My Life illustrates how one can stay hopeful in a world full of mistreatment through the use of figurative language, internal monologue, and dialogue. The hope to survive is shown through the author’s use of figurative language. For example, Gerda listening to her parents’ conversation about her father leaving on the train the next morning brings her strength. Her parents’ love and courage sustains Gerda through the happy …show more content…

EXAMPLE Gerda and Suse argue over how long the war will last. They end their conversation by betting a quart of strawberries and cream. Gerda and Suse discuss, ‘“It may be longer than we imagine,’ Suse said, her gaiety vanishing. ‘No, no. It won’t be!’ I spoke quickly. ‘Let’s bet on it.” she challenged. ‘It will be longer than a year.’ ‘Shorter than six months.’ I was confident” (113). Therefore, Gerda and Suse’s conversation proves that Gerda will continue to stay hopeful because she is confident that the war will be shorter than most believe it to be. EXAMPLE Gerda meets a Hungarian girl who believes that the girls are going to die soon. Gerda denies this because she has hope and she knows the Hungarian girl does too. Gerda challenges the girl by telling her that she if she didn’t truly have hope, to go to the charged, wired fence barricading the camp. Gerda and the Hungarian girl argue, “‘...It won’t be long until our turn comes’ she said matter-of-factly. ‘Maybe it never will,’ I replied. ‘You are silly!’ she exclaimed. ‘Don’t tell me you still hope.’ ‘I do, and you do too!’ I snapped back (196). Most people would agree that this conversation demonstrates hope because after nearly everyone lost hope, Gerda continued to believe. Multiple techniques are used to illustrate the power of hope within All But My

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