Definition of Simile
Key Examples in Cry, the Beloved Country
Cry, the Beloved Country takes a disquieting pivot following its introduction to the “lovely road” of Ixopo and the Umzimkulu Valley. Through a mix of simile and metaphor, Chapter 1 renders the ecological devastation of South Africa’s countryside in violent, grisly terms:
The great red hills stand desolate, and the earth has torn them away like flesh. The lightning flashes over them, the clouds pour down upon them, the dead streams come to life, full of the red blood of the earth.
In Chapter 13, Msimangu uses a simile as he preaches to the blind with a rousing sermon:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The voice shook and beat and trembled, not as the voice of an old man shakes and beats and trembles, nor as a leaf shakes and beats and trembles, but as a deep bell when it is struck.