Stevens 'Use Of Metaphors In Schizophrenia'

Metaphors are another literary term used in the poem “Schizophrenia”. Stevens used metaphors in “Schizophrenia”, by comparing the house in the story to a mind that is completely destroyed by the mental illness. Towards the end of the poem the poet showed how the house had fallen apart and was completely abandoned. The poet used the quote, “Seeing cracking paint, broken windows, /the front door banging in the wind, /the roof tiles flying off, one by one, /the neighbors said it was a madhouse. / It was the house that suffered most.” (Stevens, 1922, 16-20). This quote shows how once schizophrenia has taken over, a person cannot function on his or her own, and ends up mentally destroyed. The poet described how the disease starts to deteriorate