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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
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Hard Ground:
In Chapter 1, Lily introduces her ranch, explaining their way of life and describing the ground with a simile:
It was hard country. The ground was like rock—save for when a flood turned everything to mud[.]
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Think Like a Horse:
In Chapter 1, Lily helps her father train the horses, working with the half-broken ones, and he advises her by using both an idiom and a simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Everyone who spent time around horses, Dad liked to say, needed to learn to think like a horse. He was always repeating that phrase: “Think like a horse.” The key to that, he said, was understanding that horses were always afraid [...] They were all the time looking for a protector, and if you could convince a horse that you’d protect him, he would do anything for you.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Herd of People:
When Lily moves to Chicago in Chapter 3, she uses a simile to compare the large crowds to a herd of cattle:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When the train pulled into Chicago, I took down my little suitcase and walked through the station into the street. I’d been in crowds before—county fairs, livestock auctions—but I’d never seen such a mass of people, all moving together like a herd, jostling and elbowing, nor had my ears been assaulted by such a ferocious din, with cars honking, trolleys clanging, and hydraulic jackhammers blasting away.
Related Themes:
