A self-realization is development or fulfillment of one's potential. Without self-realizations people would not develop or fulfill their potential. In the short story, "The Metaphor", Budge Wilson suggests people have a variety of experiences, encounters and interactions. These situations can result in significant learning leading up to a self-realization. Where a person can develop deeper understanding of their personality, values and identity.
             The first experience Charlotte has, is joyful and occurs in seventh grade in which Miss Hancock teaches a lesson on the metaphor; that changes Charlotte's way of looking at the world. This ability to write her world with words is what Charlotte remembers most about the lesson on "The Metaphor". Miss Hancock enters the classroom, "eyes aglitter, hands clasped in front of her embroidered breasts" (217), telling her students that this lesson will open a "whole new world of composition"(217). Miss Hancock makes a metaphor in describing the power of figurative language as "a brand-new weapon in your arsenal of writing skills."(217) Moments later, Charlotte understands that this English teacher gave her an "entry to something I did not yet fully understand but that I knew I wanted."(218) Miss Hancock encourages students to share what they've written; she values each student's work by writing each of their metaphors verbatim on the board. When Charlotte suggests that hers is too long to write on the board, Miss Hancock encourages her to share, and Charlotte begins: "My mother is a flawless modern building, created of glass and the smoothest pale concrete."(219) Charlotte presents her mother, as a person who makes no mistakes, who's exterior is hard and cold. "Inside are business offices furnished with beige carpets and gleaming chromium,"(219) she continues. This almost colourless interior is equally co...