The Metaphor By Budge Wilson Analysis

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Each and every one of us learns throughout our daily lives. We learn from others and through our experiences. As we grow older and become more mature, we develop a deeper understanding of ourselves as we slowly move away from following others to constructing our own perspectives on the world around us. Self-discovery is what gives us a self-realization of what we value, care and love, and thus allowing us to affirm our values in society.

In the short story “The Metaphor”, author Budge Wilson depicted a story about a girl named Charlotte discovering her own life through her teenage years. Throughout the duration of the story, Charlotte had moved from a shadow of her mother to becoming the unique and distinct herself today. It was evident that Charlotte was aware of her own thoughts and values for the first time when she wrote a metaphor describing Miss Hancock; an individual which no one around her loved.

Without being influenced by the people around her, she expressed her own perspective by describing Miss Hancock as a birthday cake, which was rich, soft and delicious; and that if you kept it longer, it would amaze you by turning into pure gold (Page 80). The metaphor also included a phrase which stated that the birthday cake is often judged by many adults due to its poor aesthetics. This clearly supports the fact that she was well aware of other’s opinions and that she believed that has the right to think her own way. Something also to take note of was when Charlotte was writing this metaphor, she she quoted “I wish the party wasn’t over” in a regretful tone. Other than regret, this phrase also symbolizes resilience: The regret and misery from acknowledging her mistake of failing to affirm her own thoughts taught her a lesson to become braver and to live in a way that she knows is comfortable. Although process of writing the metaphor about Miss Hancock was miserable and remorseful, the metaphor is an inauguration of her journey of self-discovery.

Similarly a self-discovery which brought me to a self-realization of what I care and love was when I started volunteering for Youth Central in January. My first project was serving lunch at the Salvation Army in downtown Calgary. Before my first shift, many people around me have warned me that the people whom I will serve would be rough and discourteous. But it was too late, I have decided to sign up, and there was no turning back. On the day of the shift, I arrived at City Hall Station at 8:30 in the morning waiting for the rest of my team. All of the team members arrived by 9 and our leader walked us over the building. The leader opened the spotless glass door as a whoosh of warm air struck my face. Some people were walking around in the building. They greeted us with a smile on their faces and a nice good morning. Since we still have time we explored around the complex before we all gathered around in the kitchen. Already, the experience at the centre was very different than expected.

The kitchen staff recruited us back to review our tasks for the day as our shift was about to start.

The lunch bell rung at full volume as the main doors flung open. I predicted that a herd of people will rush in like the water from a spill gate. But instead every person was a line; in fact it was a neat single filed line. Another thing I was astonished to see was to the fact that every single person I served to was superbly well mannered. It was the magical word of thank-you which left great remarks in my life and made my volunteering experience an enjoyable one. After the shift, I have come to realize that everything my family and friends have said about impoverished people was nothing but just a stereotype. In addition, I have self-discovered that volunteering is what I want to do on my spare time. The joy from making new friends, appreciated and making a difference in society was too meaningful to put in words. From then on, volunteering had become one of my most highly valued priorities. Whenever I have time to spare, I will go

volunteering.

Everyone has their own values and opinions, but without self-discovery, these elements which help shape who we are as individuals will never see light. In the short story “The Metaphor”, Charlotte was finally able to affirm her own values and opinions through writing metaphors which brought her to a conscience of her thoughts and values. It was self-discovery which allowed Charlotte to affirm her values in society and never have to face regret in life again. It was self-discovery which helped her develop a self-realization of what she valued, loved and cared.