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"We were keeping our eyes on 1984."
The context for the sentence is George Orwell's novel "1984," in which he prophesized the downfall of democracy. In this a sentence a critic says that we were all waiting to see if Orwell's prophecy would come true so they were keeping their eyes on 1984.
I know a metonymy is a metaphor in which the metaphorical image is closely associated with the object it's being compared to, but I'm not 100% sure on this example. What do you guys think?
There is no figure of speech in your example.
me·ton·y·my
noun
the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the track for horse racing.
google.com
A figure of speech is a departure from normal discourse to emphasize something. The simplest figure is the SIMILE where you emphasize a similarity by saying the comparison: You are like a dog. The METAPHOR is when you say they are the same: You are a dog. Next is hypocatastasis, Greek for name calling: You dog!
Metonymy is nearly identical to synecdoche.
A synecdoche uses part for the whole or the whole for a part. A metonymy is a substitution where a word or phrase is used in place of another word or phrase. A good example is the phrase “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Examples of Synecdoche
examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-synecdoche.html
IOW the definition given above for metonymy is not exactly right.
