Metaphor for Desire
The main character, Willie Somerset Chandran, has a name that is a metaphor for his father's desire. Willie's father is a Brahmin and lived for many years at a temple, where he was treated as a holy priest, and visited by thousands of people: tourists, locals, or religious devotees. While Willie's father was at the temple, he was visited by an English writer named Somerset Maugham. He was enchanted by Somerset Maugham's lifestyle and the fact that he was able to pursue a career as a writer, something WIllie's father had always dreamed about. As a result, when Willie was born, his father gave him the middle name Somerset as a way to show his desire for Willie to become something great in his life and hopefully a writer. His name is a metaphor for what his father desires of him.
Metaphor for a New Life
Around a third of the way through the novel, Willie Chandran moves to a Portuguese colony in Africa because he has fallen in love with Ana and wants to move to her homeland with her. As soon as they arrive in the country, Willie is immediately stunned by the cultural and physical differences of his new home. While he stays in Africa for 18 years, married to Ana, he discovers various aspects of his own character, one of which was his sexual frustration and eventual freedom, which was highlighted in the novel. At the end of the 18 years, he realizes he no longer cares for Ana in the same passionate way he did when they had first met, and he feels as if he has wasted his time in Africa with a life that was not his own. This 18 years of life in Africa was a metaphor for a new life for Willie and was completely distinct from his previous experiences, giving a surreal feeling to that point in his life, as if it was an entirely different person living that new life.
Simile for a Mother
Sarojini is Willie Chandran's sister and is a simile for a motherly figure. She is a small, dark woman who had an insecure childhood due to the fact that it was nearly impossible to find someone willing to marry her, a fact that kept her parents up late at night. Sarojini finally does marry someone; an older German man who was touring India, who she moves to Germany with. Even though she is thousands of miles away from Willie, and often on a separate continent entirely, she worries for Willie a lot. Throughout the novel, Sarojini writes long letters to Willie, questioning his actions and his ability to do something productive and useful with his education. In the book, Willie was quoted saying "she acts more like a mother than a sister" and she does eventually become a simile for a mother, replacing the role of Willie's actual mother.
Metaphor for Sexual Attitude
In the novel, a man named Alvaro, the head estate keeper for Willie and Ana's estate, acts as a metaphor for the disturbing sexual attitudes in that Portuguese colony of Africa. This metaphor becomes especially clear around pages 167 through 177. At this point in the book, Willie is not aware of the sexual attitudes prevalent in the country where he is staying, and he has only briefly observed them, never truly understanding them or feeling curious about it. However, Alvaro changes all that by acting as a metaphor for those disturbing sexual attitudes and representing those ideas when he interacts with Willie. He takes Willie through the villages and says, "She's had her first period, and that means she's ready for sex. The Africans are very sensible about these things. No foreign nonsense about under-age sex." The quote is startling and disturbing not only to Willie, but to the reader as well, and highlights how Alvaro acts as that metaphor for the way sex is perceived and conducted.
Metaphor for False Appearances
On page 161, the story includes a metaphor which compares the French wine to moving to France in general, and the French wine acts as a metaphor for false appearances. All the neighbors, including Willie and Ana, are gathered at the estate house of Jacinto and Carla. Jacinto and Carla were getting wealthier by the day but they were also extremely paranoid about their current lives and wanted to move away from the country. Carla really longed to move to France and the family had visited France once, bringing back a bottle of famous French wine which they shared with all the neighbors gathered at their house. Everyone complimented the wine but the reality was that it wasn't as good as expected and rather acidic. This is a metaphor about what moving to France would be like. The country was praised and extremely well-heard of and it seemed like everyone wanted to move there; it looked good from the outside. However, moving to France would not be as sweet as it seemed for Jacinto and Carla, the same way that the French wine was actually too acidic.
