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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
Part 2, Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—People Turned Goats:
Part 2, Chapter 10 features a simile as violence flares across Nigeria. While delivering tea and bread to the soldiers at the train station, Ugwu listens in on two wounded men who recount an episode of escape.
“Those madmen were chasing us like runaway goats, but once we entered the gates of the barracks we were safe.”
Part 2, Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Slaughter in Kano:
The Igbo victory of Major Nzeogwu’s coup is short-lived, and the mix of imagery and simile in Part 2, Chapter 11 serves as a brutal reminder of the violence. Amid spreading news of Hausa reprisals, Olanna revisits Kano in search of her Uncle Mbaezi and Aunty Ifeka. What follows is a queasy blend of shock and terror:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Uncle Mbaezi lay facedown in an ungainly twist, legs splayed. Something creamy-white oozed through the large gash on the back of his head. Aunty Ifeka lay on the veranda. The cuts on her naked body were smaller, dotting her arms and legs like slightly parted red lips.
Related Themes:
Part 2, Chapter 18
Explanation and Analysis—Laying Large Eggs:
A pair of similes appears during Olanna and Odenigbo’s wedding ceremony in Part 2, Chapter 18. Before the newlyweds even have a chance to cut the cake, planes fly low and set the neighborhood to waste. The guests duck for cover, and Ugwu briefly glances up at the sky:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Ugwu looked up and saw the planes, gliding low beneath the blue sky like two birds of prey. They spurted hundreds of scattered bullets before dark balls rolled out from underneath, as if the planes were laying large eggs.
