Allegory to describe individuality
Nuala uses an allegory to describe the individual person. She describes it as, 'I don’t suppose that history explains it- that the individual person comes out of a vessel into which two jugs called environment and heredity have been poured.' The allegory shows how an individual's personality is created from their environment and their heredity just like a vessel whose water has been poured from two kinds of jugs.
Allegory to describe how Nuala viewed the turbulent relationship between her parents
As a child, Nuala was not aware of the drama involving the relationship of her mother and father. She uses an allegory to explain this as, 'I didn’t know much about them, though down on the floor of the ocean, where I lived in my child world, I could sense disturbances up above on the surface of the water.' The allegory shows how Nuala was unaware of the turbulent relationship of her mother and her father just like something deep in the ocean only senses the disturbances on the surface but is not sure what is happening.
Motif of Story within a story
In the book, the narrator tells other stories within the main story. These stories include that of her father and his mistress, of her mother and grandmother's rocky relationship and of the love between her mother and father in the beginning of their relationship. These stories build the characters in the novel by providing a background story about their lives.
Understanding books
Nuala uses an allegory to describe how she understood the plot in the books that she read. She says, '...not just the story but the rhythm, the tone, the feel of what has accumulated from before and what is beginning to impend-becoming sure-footed on the high wire of the writer's intention.' In the description, the words ‘sure-footed in the high wire' are allegorical for they mean that she becomes aware and confident in the plot of the book.
Allegory to describe puberty
Nuala describes how puberty came to her as, 'Not that I knew what it was called or what was happening - all I knew was that something had run over me like a train, and simplified everything.' The allegory shows how Nuala felt puberty came upon her like being run over by a train.
