Paper Exploring Literary Devices in 'Scorched' by Wajdi Mouawad: Juxtaposition, Metaphor, and Paradox

Literary devices have vast roles. They can be found in all novels, books, writings, and stories. A literary device is defined to be any method that is employed by the author to convey a particular message. The author can use irony, allegory, paradox, or even metaphors to deliver his message to the reader. The book Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad uses various literary devices such as juxtaposition, irony, imagery, and allusion among others. However, this paper shall focus on three literary devices: Juxtaposition, metaphor, and paradox and their significance to the themes of the book.

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To start with, Juxtaposition is a device that is utilized by the author where he/she places a concept, person, theme, or idea parallel to another. The objective of juxtaposition is to differentiate two indirectly or directly related ideas and make a comparison. The literary device is normally used to create suspense or give a rhetorical effect. In the book Scorched, the author uses juxtaposition when Forets begins the present with the protagonist Loup who, while sitting at the table, dreams of the past, the material day when her conception was announced. The music begins, and the celebration, which was in the past, is led by Aimee and her husband. Immediately when the cast receives the information about Aimee’s pregnancy, the scene stops. The sequence of time is broken (Mouawad, 6). The event corresponds with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the anti-Jewish Kristallnacht programs in Germany and Austria. The Juxtaposition in this scene is significant to the themes of the book because it gives a background of the action and proposes how tragic it is. It served to separate the past and the present.

A metaphor is a literary device, which is a figure of speech and it compares two diverse things. A metaphor creates comparisons without using “as” or “like.” It is a way of affirming that two things are similar in comparing them rather than stating that they are similar. The use of metaphors in the book Scorched by Mouawad is seen in the cinematic narration principles. In Seuls, Mouawad makes use of a backdrop frame as a conceptual metaphor and as a stage prop. The backdrop frame is shaped in a rectangular shape and it has three functions. It acts as a window, internet page, photo booth, and as Harwan’s portrait, allowing him to get into the space of the metaphor (Mouawad, 8). The literary device is significant to the themes of the book because it illustrates a particular point without outright saying it. For instance, the themes in the book; torture and death are sensitive and for them to be best illustrated, the author has to use metaphors to let the readers think differently and enter into a different sphere.

A paradox is a literary device that uses ideas or concepts that are contradictory but when put together, they have important values on various levels. Paradoxes are unique because the importance and deeper meaning of a concept are not realized at first sight. However, when it is realized, it gives outstanding insight. In the book Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad, Janine, and Simon act simultaneously as tour guides and as tourist travelers. Paradoxically, this situation of a cultural tourist helps a Western spectator to resonate with the historical Lebanon story and be a witness to the history of the characters and their state’s collective memory (Mouawad, 3). The situation is harmless because it easily gives the spectator the prominence of cultural dominance. The significance of paradoxes in the themes of the book is that they challenge opinions and assumptions, especially on these sensitive themes. It also poses a challenge for the reader to identify flaws in his/her way of thinking.