Final answer:
In Helene Johnson's 'The Road', figurative language such as metaphors and personification enriches imagery and conveys deeper meanings, with the road potentially serving as a metaphor for life's journey.
Step-by-step explanation:
In The Road by Helene Johnson, figurative language plays a crucial role in painting vivid imagery and conveying deeper meanings. The poem extensively employs metaphors and personification, imbuing inanimate objects with human qualities. For example, if the road could be described as 'whispering', that would be personification, attributing the human ability to whisper to a non-human object. An example of a metaphor from everyday language is 'Life is a journey,' comparing life to a travel experience to highlight its nature full of challenges, choices, and discoveries.
The usage of figurative language, including metaphors and personification, serves multiple purposes; it enhances the reader's engagement by sparking the imagination and by making abstract concepts more relatable and visceral. In The Road, the road itself can be seen as a metaphor for life's journey, suggesting the various paths one might take and the experiences that pave a person's existence. Such figurative language enriches the text and provides a deeper layer of understanding for the reader.