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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
Similes
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Swarm of Beetles:
When capturing the child’s experience while watching the wounded soldiers crawl through the woods, the narrator uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
And so the clumsy multitude dragged itself slowly and painfully along in hideous pantomime — moved forward down the slope like a swarm of great black beetles, with never a sound of going — in silence profound, absolute.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Soldier or Animal:
While watching the wounded soldiers retreat from the battlefield—many of whom are crawling on their knees—the child decides it is time to play horse with one of them. When capturing this interaction, the narrator uses both a simile and a metaphor, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The man sank upon his breast, recovered, flung the small boy fiercely to the ground as an unbroken colt might have done, then turned upon him a face that lacked a lower jaw — from the upper teeth to the throat was a great red gap fringed with hanging shreds of flesh and splinters of bone. The unnatural prominence of nose, the absence of chin, the fierce eyes, gave this man the appearance of a great bird of prey crimsoned in throat and breast by the blood of its quarry.
Related Themes:
