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Setting
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
Part I
Explanation and Analysis—Circles Like Rain:
When Nick finally makes it to the river—after hiking away from the abandoned town of Seney—he pauses to take in the view. The narrator uses a simile at this point to describe the evidence of fish in the water:
While Nick walked through the little stretch of meadow alongside the stream, trout had jumped high out of water. Now as he looked down the river, the insects must be settling on the surface, for the trout were feeding steadily all down the stream. As far down the long stretch as he could see, the trout were rising, making circles all down the surface of the water, as though it were starting to rain.
Related Themes:
Part II
Explanation and Analysis—The Grasshoppers:
When Nick is collecting grasshoppers to use as fishing bait, he pauses to notice the ways that the grasshoppers move and relate to each other. The narrator captures Nick’s reflections on the grasshoppers using a metaphor and a simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Nick picked them up, taking only the medium-sized brown ones, and put them into the bottle. He turned over a log and just under the shelter of the edge were several hundred hoppers. It was a grasshopper lodging house. Nick put about fifty of the medium browns into the bottle. While he was picking up the hoppers the others warmed in the sun and commenced to hop away. They flew when they hopped. At first they made one flight and stayed stiff when they landed, as though they were dead.
Related Themes:
