Question

Which part of this excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an example of metaphor?

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.

Answer 1

The line that states, "courage is a man with a gun in his hand." It is a metaphor because Lee is not comparing courage to a man with a gun with "like" or "as." Instead, she uses "is", as if she is enforcing the fact that courage IS a man with a gun. That kind of bluntness is only in a metaphor, as the author gives no room for debate.