The figurative language in the poem “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath can be used to uncover a deeper meaning of the poem. By using figurative language throughout the poem such as symbolism, imagery, and wordplay, Plath reveals hidden messages about her relationship with her father. Plath uses symbols of Nazis, vampires, size, and communication to reveal a message about her father. In Plath's poem, she frequently uses figurative language about the Nazis and the Holocaust. Plath portrays herself as a victim, saying she is like a Jew and her father is like a Nazi. Plath uses a locomotive as a metaphor for her father speaking the German language, and also to describe herself as a Jewish victim taken to a concentration camp. Plath states, “And the obscene language / One engine, and one engine / Pissing me off like a Jew” (Plath 30-32). This shows the subtle metaphor of the locomotive being her German speaking father and how she feels trapped. Plath uses other subtle metaphors that discreetly connect her father to the Nazis when she uses German words such as "Luftwaffe" (42) which is the German air force, and "Panzer-man" (45) which were the men who equipped the German army. tanks. Another example of Plath using figurative language to describe her father as a Nazi can be found when she uses an allusion to Hitler's mustache and Aryan blue eyes. “And your neat mustache / And your Aryan eyes, bright blue” (Plath 43-44). The use of this allusion gives the father the image of Hitler himself and helps to construct the metaphor of his Nazi father. Towards the end of the poem, Plath begins to be more direct in describing her father as a Nazi. She uses the metaphor of her father who is not like God, but rather like... middle of paper... voices just can't sneak through” (Plath 68-70) One metaphor compares the telephone to a plant, and the plant was cut off at the root and therefore the communication was cut off. The roots are almost a metaphorical telephone line growing over his father's grave, but they are now severed and can no longer communicate. We can see the struggle Plath goes through of wanting so desperately to say something to her father but never getting the chance to say it. By analyzing Plath's use of figurative language, we can see a much deeper meaning to her poem. We see how she represented her father as a suffocating monster through figurative language. We also get a deeper insight into the type of relationship, or rather lack thereof, between the two. Works Cited Plath, Sylvia. The collected poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Harper perennial plant, 1972.