meaning - the definition of the metaphor



The metaphor designates something (A) as something (B), something in the quality of something not itself.


Corngold, Kafka's Die Verwandlung: Metamorphosis of the Metaphor



I would like to ask how you understand the above sentence (especially the emphasized part). Does it follow from it that in the case of a metaphor the quality of B has nothing to do with the qualities of A. If so I find this definition very confusing. I think that we use the metaphor when we want to express the qualities of A are similar to qualities of B.




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