Previous
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—Knife-Edge Nose:
When he first describes Otto Lidenbrock, Axel employs imagery and a simile to craft a memorable image of his uncle. This provides readers with early insights into both Lidenbrock's physical appearance and his character:
Fancy to yourself a tall, spare man, with an iron constitution, and a juvenile fairness of complexion, which took off a full ten years of his fifty. His large eyes rolled about incessantly behind his great goggles; his long thin nose resembled a knife-blade; malicious people declared it was magnetised, and attracted steel filings—a pure calumny; it attracted nothing but snuff, but, to speak truth, a superabundance of that.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Leyden Jar:
In this passage, the author uses a simile and an allusion to a scientific instrument. This conveys Professor Lidenbrock’s excitement upon discovering new, exciting information about the Saknussemm book:
Unlock with LitCharts A+My uncle gave a leap as he read this, as if suddenly touched by a Leyden jar. He was magnificent in his joy, and daring, and conviction.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—From High Up:
In this excerpt from his time in Denmark in Chapter 8, the narrator uses visual imagery and a simile to convey the breathtaking and disorienting view from a Copenhagen steeple. As Axel clambers his way to the top, urged on by the Professor, he describes the scene as follows:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Above my head scattered clouds were passing, and by an optical inversion they seemed to me motionless, while the steeple, and ball, and myself were whirling down with fantastic swiftness. In the distance, on one side lay the green plains, and on the other the sparkling sea. The Sound spread out before Elsinore, and sundry white sails, like the wings of sea birds, and in the mist, to the east, appeared the faint outlines of the Swedish coast.
Related Themes:
