ИСТИНА

The research focuses on some figurative uses of language in one of Updike's best novels. The connotative power of metaphors in "Of the Farm" helps to impart the underlying themes and values of the story, contributes to the creation of plausible characters and determines the reader's response to the narrative issues. The novel revolves around the contrast of the pragmatic and the poetic tempers, epitomized respectively by the protagonist and his mother. The spatial and water metaphors in the description of Mrs. Robinson, the true reflector of the author's aesthetic creed, highlight that character's inseparability from nature and her adherence to the traditional lifestyle. The image of the farm becomes a touchstone where the character’s worth (or unworthiness) is tested, measured and assessed.