What is the figurative meaning of the words and phrases in the sentence?
Answer:
The figurative meaning the narrator wants to convey in this sentence is that the individuals who separated him from his family and took his liberty are evil and lack empathy.
Explanation:
Twelve Years a Slave is a story told by a black man who is kidnapped and sold as a slave. In this sentence, the narrator describes his feelings as a slave, stating that people that took him away from his family are ''monsters''. They do not care about him, and see him just as an object that will do whatever he is told. Those people have forgot that he is a human being, and deserves to be happy. By referring to them as ''monsters in the shape of men'', the narrator stresses how unjust their actions really are.
How does the imagery and symbolism in the sentence affect its meaning?
Answer: The imagery and symbolism make the readers understand the hardships that the narrator has experienced.
Explanation:
When he mentions that he has been separated from his family, the narrator makes the readers develop empathy for his situation. If we put ourselves in his shoes, we will realize how terrible it is to spend 12 years on your own, far away from home, ''for the sake of gold''. Family and liberty are of enormous importance for each one of us, and no excuse is good enough to deprive someone of these values. Therefore, the narrator's experience as a slave justifies the description of his owners as ''inhuman monsters.''
