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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
Chapter 6 - Anza-Borrego
Explanation and Analysis—I Would Drive 1,200 Miles:
In Chapter 6, Chris calls Ronald Franz from Coachella, California. Chris (or as Ronald knows him, Alex) couldn't find work there despite great effort, and he calls Ronald to ask for a ride to Salton City, about 30 miles south. In Ronald's recollection from an interview with Krakauer, he uses a simile to describe the feeling of hearing from Chris again after a long while:
A week later Franz’s phone rang. “It was the operator,” he says, “asking if I would accept a collect call from someone named Alex. When I heard his voice, it was like sunshine after a month of rain.”
“Will you come pick me up?” McCandless asked.
“Yes. Where in Seattle are you?”
“Ron,” McCandless laughed, “I’m not in Seattle. I’m in California, just up the road from you, in Coachella.”
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Purple Filigree:
In Chapter 6, Krakauer introduces Ronald Franz, a kindly old man who takes a liking to Chris. Krakauer gives an evocative description of Ronald, ending with a striking simile depicting his nose:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Ronald Franz [...] looks remarkably sturdy for a man in his ninth decade who has survived two heart attacks. Nearly six feet tall, with thick arms and a barrel chest, he stands erect, his shoulders unbowed. His ears are large beyond the proportions of his other features, as are his gnarled, meaty hands. [...] His age is betrayed only by the creases across his brow and a proud, deeply pitted nose, over which a purple filigree of veins unfolds like a finely wrought tattoo. A little more than a year after McCandless’s death he regards the world through wary blue eyes.
Related Themes:
Chapter 12 – Annandale
Explanation and Analysis—Keeping Score:
As described in Chapter 12, in the summer between his sophomore and junior years at Emory, Chris returned to Annandale, California. He works there at a Dominos, where he makes a "pile of money" and keeps track of it very closely. Bill's younger sister Carine describes how Bill treated his money using a simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“I remember he’d come home every night and do his accounting at the kitchen table. It didn’t matter how tired he was; he’d figure out how many miles he drove, how much Domino’s paid him for gas, how much gas actually cost, his net profits for the evening, how it compared to the same evening the week before. [...] He didn’t seem interested in the money so much as the fact that he was good at making it. It was like a game, and the money was a way of keeping score.”
Related Themes:
