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Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
Key Examples in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
Similes
Explanation and Analysis—Cleaning the Coop:
When describing the foul condition of the chicken coop in which Pelayo and Elisenda lock up the angel, the narrator uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
If they washed [the chicken coop] down with creolin and burned tears of myrrh inside it every so often, it was not in homage to the angel but to drive away the dungheap stench that still hung everywhere like a ghost and was turning the new house into an old one.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Circus Animal:
When describing the townspeople’s reaction to the presence of an angel in their community, the narrator uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[W]hen [Pelayo and Elisenda] went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence, tossing him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal.
Related Themes:
