I have always assumed On the Origin of Species to be a purely scientific book.  I had never considered what literary tools might be at work in complex manners within the text.  However, after our discussion in class, I now realize that metaphor is a major literary device used within the text to simplify and intensify the ideas presented.

The metaphors Darwin uses help to put his complex ideas into more relatable terms and ideas.  This was clever and useful of him as he published On the Origin of Species because it was published for the general public, not specifically for other scientists.  Perhaps these metaphorical aids were part of the reason that it was and is still so popular?  Some of the major metaphors that Darwin uses are the metaphors of the tree, of war/struggle, and of an entangled bank or web.  Most of these metaphors seem to have persisted through the years and are familiar to us today.  Many people have seen pictures of the branching tree of species that Darwin describes and many of us have heard the term “struggle for existence”.  The problem is that many people have not read On the Origin of Species.  This is a problem because while they hear the general ideas from other people, they interpret the broad ideas in ways that Darwin did not intend.  This is most likely because of the lack of information they receive from others compared to if they would read Darwin’s ideas straight from the text (which is much more in detail then what they are exposed to). If people read On the Origin of Species, they would have much more of a firm comprehension of Darwin’s ideas of evolution and the ecosystem, than if they simply saw a diagram of a tree in the manner he described.  This is not only because of the great detail Darwin uses in describing the metaphors, but also the text sparks ideas and feelings through the use of intense language.

Darwin’s use of metaphor to relate common ideas with complex ones reminded me somewhat of the genre of creation stories.  Often times it seems to me that creation stories feel like metaphors that work to relate what humans could believe or somewhat understand to the non-understandable.  I feel that Native American creation stories especially carry a sense of this metaphorical interpretation.  Instead of the earth being created out of nothing by an invisible deity, they are often characterized by humans and/or animals that create the present state of the world.  By associating creation with things they are familiar with, they can more easily accept and come to terms with the belief.  This to me seems very similar to how Darwin uses metaphor to make his postulation more relatable.  In a way, isn’t Darwin’s theory is a creation story?  Do you find Darwin’s use of metaphors to be helpful in your understanding of his ideas?