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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
Key Examples in House Made of Dawn
4. The Longhair, July 25
Explanation and Analysis—Prosthetic Eye:
In Chapter 4, Father Olguin finishes reading Fray Nicolás's journal and feels a renewed commitment to his missionary work. Momaday uses a simile that foreshadows Olguin's epiphany at the end of the novel:
He replaced the letter and closed the book. He could sleep now, and tomorrow he would become a figure, an example in the town. In among them, he would provide the townspeople with an order of industry and repose. He closed his good eye; the other was cracked open and dull in the yellow light; the ball was hard and opaque, like a lump of frozen marrow in the bone.
Related Themes:
6. The Longhair, August 1
Explanation and Analysis—Dead Man's Arm:
In Chapter 6, after Abel kills Juan Reyes Fragua (who has albinism), he stares down at the man's exposed arm. Momaday uses a pair of similes that foreshadow Abel's struggle to assimilate in Los Angeles in the following section of the book:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The sleeve had been cut away, and the whole length of the arm and the open palm of the hand were exposed. The white, hairless arm shone like the underside of a fish, and the dark nails of the hand seemed a string of great black beads. He knelt over the white man for a long time in the rain, looking down.
Related Themes:
7. The Longhair, August 2
Explanation and Analysis—Sprung Trap:
In Chapter 7, right after Abel has killed Juan Reyes Fragua, the perspective shifts to Francisco. The short chapter centers on a simile that has broad implications:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"Abelito." The old man Francisco rode out in his wagon to the fields.[...] Without thinking, knowing only by instinct where he was, the old man looked for the reed. It was there still, but the rise of the river had reached it and made it spring; it leaned out of the water, and the little noose hung from it like a spider's thread.
Related Themes:
