Witness

“felt like skidding on ice as i read, / felt like twisting steel.”

After a classmate shows Leonora a newspaper advertisement for a racist minstrel show, Leonora uses this simile to compare her feelings to a car accident. The skidding ice indicates a feeling of losing control, and the twisting steel is the destruction of the car as it wrecks.

“and what i see, / the opening of roses kept bud-tight for so many years, / it warms this aging soul.”

Dr. Flitt’s metaphor compares the growing independence of American women to blossoming rose buds. Rose buds traditionally have symbolized love and beauty, but if they are kept bud-tight, they will never fully mature. Dr. Flitt’s sympathy for the plight of American women shows in his joy at their growing independence.

“wouldn’t you like that? picnics and speakers?”

“[P]icnics and speakers” is a literary allusion to the phrase “bread and circuses,” which is a figure of speech for the entertainment and pleasure that tyrants offer the masses to keep them distracted. Harvey is excited about the possible fun and games that the Klan will bring to the town but does not understand that these are distractions from the Klan’s true purpose.

“together we cast a long shadow, neighbor, / and with our shadow / we cast our foes in darkness.”

Johnny uses the idiom “cast a long shadow” to convey the power of his church and, by extension, his power. A person or group that casts a long shadow has a long-lasting bad influence over something. This quote also illustrates his melodramatic fire-and-brimstone narrative style.

“i marched home in a straight line, / with my back tall, / and thought about that regiment of men / like a streamer of dark silk.”

Leonora uses Mr. Field’s simile to show her new pride in her heritage. The simile compares a Black regiment from the Civil War to a streamer of dark silk. Silk is an extremely valuable material, known to be much stronger than other fabrics.

“viola says: / was iris weaver in the store when he was doing this preaching? / harvey says: / no. matter of fact he waited until she left. / viola nods and smiles. / i guess he did.”

Viola and Harvey’s exchange is an example of dramatic irony. Harvey is explaining how Johnny’s preaching advocates keeping women in the kitchen, away from important decisions. When Viola asks if Iris was present during the sermon, Harvey says no; this implies, first, that Johnny is too cowardly to preach about women to their face, and second, that Iris would not tolerate his rhetoric.

“flames leaping, / seeking heaven, / neighbor, the white / crucifix scoring / the night / blazed perfect.”

The personification of flames, leaping and seeking heaven, is an example of dramatic irony. Flames traditionally symbolize Hell, and the cross-burning is a symbol of hate. That a preacher should confuse those meanings with divinity is ironic.

“the light from the cross curled its bright claws under the floor.”

Light is personified here as a predatory animal with claws. The light comes from a cross-burning, which symbolizes the Klan’s presence in town. This makes the light particularly threatening to Leonora.

“families listened to the independence day concert, / while up on the hill a fiery cross was set ablaze.”

Burning a cross on Independence Day is situational irony. Independence Day celebrates freedom, and the Klan’s cross-burning threatens the freedom of Leonora and the Hirsches. Reynard appears to be the only townsperson who sees the irony.

“klan can seem mighty right-minded, with their talk of family virtue, / might decent, if you don’t scratch the surface. / there’s a kind of power they wield, / a deceptive authority.”

Sara discerns the difference between the Klan’s façade as a protector of traditional values, and their real agenda of disenfranchising others. The Klan’s authority is deceptive because they have no real legal standing to enforce laws or pronounce judgments on citizens, yet they derive power from the anonymity of their members and the secrecy of their actions.

“she does go so fast sparks are coming on the braided rug.”

Esther describes Sara’s pacing in a hyperbole—that is, with exaggerated language that helps illustrate the situation. The description of Sara striking sparks off the rug creates a sense of not only her speed but also her anger. The precision of this figurative language is highly unusual for child Esther’s age, and it speaks to something extraordinary in her character.

“heard talk around town that / the hearse of a slain klansman / caught fire on its way to the cemetery // what do you suppose the lord / was trying to say about that?”

Sara uses verbal irony (sarcasm) to describe a Klansman’s funeral. She expresses the view that the “lord” does not condone the Klan’s activities, which is also ironic because the Klan presents itself as a Christian group.

“but i ran // as the whistle shrieked / as the brakes screamed / as the fireman crawled out onto the grinding locomotive.”

Hesse uses auditory imagery to convey the terror of the train bearing down on Esther. The personification of the whistle “shrieking” and the brake “screaming” suggest frantic urgency, which culminates with Leonora leaping and grabbing Esther to safety.

“what is the ku klux klan? / is it the patriotic organization it claims to be? / 100 percent americans. / what is 100 percent american? / what of catholics, jews, negroes, / citizens of any other race or color born here, / whose fathers were born here, / and grandfathers. / are they not every bit as 100 percent american as the klan?”

Reynard uses rhetorical questions about the Klan’s claim of being “100 percent American” versus every American’s right to claim the same. Reynard is asking the questions to get a dramatic effect and make a point, rather than elicit any answers.

“his eyes cloudy. / he holds a palette up close to his face / and then he hawks his shoulders and touches his brush to the / waiting canvas.”

Leonora observes Mr. Field at his favorite pastime—painting. This is situational irony, because we don’t expect a person who can hardly see to be able to paint pictures. The fact that Mr. Field does so hints that he may have other hidden talents, and it demonstrates his perseverance despite obstacles.

“this job sure don’t pay / enough.”

Constable Johnson’s observation reveals his hidden bias. He complains about his pay when he is called upon to protect African Americans, yet he doesn’t complain when he has to climb a 70-foot tree to rescue a cat. Likewise, he claims that road conditions were too dangerous for him to have helped the Sutters, a Black family, while a 70-foot climb is apparently safe.

“it has worked its / fingers through the fabric of the state / and if we do not mend the rents soon, / we’ll fall to pieces.”

Using personification, Reynard compares the Klan to a person and the state of Vermont to a piece of fabric. The image of fingers tearing a piece of cloth to pieces illustrates his recognition that the Klan is intent on destroying their way of life.

“there is only one way / to redeem myself / with my klan brothers. / only one way / to redeem myself / with god.”

Johnny’s poem contains repetition that emphasizes and juxtaposes his need to redeem himself with both the Klan and God. Johnny is alluding to his murder plot, which creates situation irony; while murder might redeem him with a hate group like the Klan, such a crime is not expected of a person trying to redeem themselves with God.

“harvey turns like a slow mule / and lumbers back into the room / where his phonograph once sat.”

Hesse uses the simile comparing Harvey to a mule to characterize him as stubborn. The description of him as slow and lumbering also shows his heavy conscience as he wrestles with his guilt about how the Klan has led him astray. Moreover, the absence of his phonograph alludes to the sorry state of his marriage; Viola sold his records.

“he snatched the wreath / and threw it down the courthouse / basement, / then chased the klansmen away with / his cane, / made from the timbers of andersonville prison.”

Mr. Field’s cane symbolizes his imprisonment at the hands of the Confederacy. When he chases the Klan off the courthouse lawn and hits them with his cane, it is a small re-enactment of a Civil War battle that Mr. Field, as a representative of the Union forces, wins again. Just as Mr. Field defied expectations by painting despite his vision loss, he now defies expectations by his fierce charge despite normally needing a cane.

“i keep looking over my shoulder / since constable johnson let me come home. / but the hoods and robes have vanished from vermont.”

“Hoods and robes” is a synecdoche, a literary device that uses parts of something to refer to a whole. In this instance, “hoods and robes” means the Klan. It is a noteworthy moment in the book, since it signifies that the Klan has finally left Vermont.

“we did oil every little place but the porch steps. / sara chickerings has thinkings that the porch steps / should make creaky creaks. / she says she does like to know when company / is about to call.”

Sara tells Esther that she wants to hear when company comes to call. This is an example of verbal irony, because it isn’t “company” that Sara is worried about, but another attack on Esther. Esther, young as she is, takes Sara at her literal word.

“the dogs chased the buck to the water / and it tried crossing the ice jam / but it fell / into a narrow break”

The buck represents Johnny, who is banned from the Klan for being too immoral for their group. Raping a child is apparently one of the very few crimes that the Klan will not tolerate in its organization, thus the narrowness of the break.