The novel, The Passenger by Lisa Lutz, is about a young woman named Jo who flees the city in fear of being accused of a crime she didn’t commit. For the second time in her life she is forced to leave her old life behind and create a new one. Throughout the story she must shed every identity that she creates due to issues that she runs into, until she is finally forced to return to her hometown and clear her original name. In the novel The Passenger by Lisa Lutz, similes, imagery, and metaphors are used to convey that viewing situations as permanent causes one to become sedentary, therefore one must shift their perspective in order to realize that everything is only temporary. In the novel The Passenger by Lisa Lutz, imagery is used to convey
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Lutz describes how people become trapped in small towns by writing, “Most had plans to leave at one point or another, but then at some point they got caught in the snare, and like an animal, lacked the cunning to undo the clamp”(Lutz …show more content…
Lisa Lutz mysteriously introduces the reader to a new charter from Jo’s past named Ryan by writing, “I thought you were a diamond but you’re no more than a shiny rock. I used to think you were better than everyone. Now I could pick a dozen souls on the street that surely pass your integrity”(Lutz 130). Jo’s new attitude towards Ryan results from a new perspective towards him. She compares her old perception of Ryan to a diamond. A diamond is chosen in this metaphor because diamonds are viewed as valuable and pure. This is how Jo thinks of Ryan in the past. She basically sees him as being perfect. She believes that they will be together forever and he becomes the only person that she trusts. However this perception of Ryan changes when he betrays her in order to protect his brother. She then compares him to just a shiny rock showing how deceitful he is actually just deceitful. Her perception of him is completely reversed. Once she changes her mind about him she realizes that their perfect relationship was only temporary. Lutz writes about Jo’s ability to escape trouble that she has developed from bein on the run by writing “These days I saw every challenge in the form of a map, my mind traveling different routes to find my way out”(Lutz 152). Jo is always able to navigate around obstacles while she is on the run. This is
Lutz describes how people become trapped in small towns by writing, “Most had plans to leave at one point or another, but then at some point they got caught in the snare, and like an animal, lacked the cunning to undo the clamp”(Lutz …show more content…
Lisa Lutz mysteriously introduces the reader to a new charter from Jo’s past named Ryan by writing, “I thought you were a diamond but you’re no more than a shiny rock. I used to think you were better than everyone. Now I could pick a dozen souls on the street that surely pass your integrity”(Lutz 130). Jo’s new attitude towards Ryan results from a new perspective towards him. She compares her old perception of Ryan to a diamond. A diamond is chosen in this metaphor because diamonds are viewed as valuable and pure. This is how Jo thinks of Ryan in the past. She basically sees him as being perfect. She believes that they will be together forever and he becomes the only person that she trusts. However this perception of Ryan changes when he betrays her in order to protect his brother. She then compares him to just a shiny rock showing how deceitful he is actually just deceitful. Her perception of him is completely reversed. Once she changes her mind about him she realizes that their perfect relationship was only temporary. Lutz writes about Jo’s ability to escape trouble that she has developed from bein on the run by writing “These days I saw every challenge in the form of a map, my mind traveling different routes to find my way out”(Lutz 152). Jo is always able to navigate around obstacles while she is on the run. This is