Jo Nesbo Metaphors

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo tells two stories, one that takes place in current times and the other that begins in the early 1940s. These two stories that seem to have no discernible connection to one another are eventually woven into one narrative. The book is separated into parts with each section consisting of a variety chapters. There are 107 chapters. Each chapter provides the location and date. Grasping the full story is a challenge due to the two stories that initially don’t seem connected and to the red herrings that the author creates to throw the reader off. Just when there seems to be some answers emerging, something else happens in the novel that throws you off the solutions that you thought of in your head. This novel uses a lot of …show more content…
An example of this is when the old man is filled with revenge and dying of cancer. There is a poison running through his body. He injects a huge oak tree with a poison that will cause the tree to die and allow the killer to have a shot at the royal balcony where the Crown Prince will appear on Liberation Day. The dying tree is a metaphor for the dying man who seeks revenge before he dies. Another metaphor is when Helena and Dr. Brockhard are speaking about horses while the underlying subject is really people. She thinks it’s unfair to teach horses to dance because it is not natural for them to do so. Brockhard said that they are lesser beings and like to be owned by their masters. Helena’s family had lost all their wealth in the war and her father was in prison. The wealthy and important Dr. Brockhard is pressuring Helena to become his lover. She uses the dressage horses to get her point across that people like to be free to live their lives the way they want to, the way that is natural for them. As it can be seen, Jo Nesbo is very detailed with his metaphors in The Redbreast. A use of foreshadowing comes near the beginning of the novel when Olsen says, “Those of you who are trying to pretend that there is not a racial struggle going on here are either blind or traitors.” (Redbreast 15). This quote hints at the calm before the storm. It promises …show more content…
The characters in this novel follow very textbook character aspects that characters in other detective novels are like in the past. The main character, Harry Hole, is a man who has an addiction of some sorts. In this case, it is alcohol. There is a supporting character, Tom Waaler, who is very arrogant about himself and takes it out on others. Finally, you get a female supporting character, Rakel Fauke, who is a love interest to the main character who is Harry. Over the course of the novel, you see a change in all the