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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 42
Explanation and Analysis—Orange Juice and Mary:
Life of Pi often uses similes and metaphors to blur the boundaries between animals, humans, and the divine. One occurrence of this is a simile in Chapter 42, when Pi sees Orange Juice the orangutan near the lifeboat after the sinking of the Tsimtsum:
She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely as the Virgin Mary. The rising sun was behind her. Her flaming hair looked stunning.
Related Themes:
Chapter 46
Explanation and Analysis—Family Tree:
At various points, the book uses similes to show how Pi tries to distance himself from his grief through poetic language. When coping with the death of his family in Chapter 46, Pi tries to compare his family members to parts of a tree:
Unlock with LitCharts A+To lose a brother is to lose someone with whom you can share the experience of growing old, who is supposed to bring you a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews, creatures to people the tree of your life and give it new branches. To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother, well, that is like losing the sun above you. It is like losing—I’m sorry, I would rather not go on.
Related Themes:
Chapter 78
Explanation and Analysis—Sky and Sea:
Pi describes and sometimes personifies the sky and sea in various ways, from lively, antagonistic forces to apathetic and inanimate to intimate friends. In Chapter 78, he describes the changing nature of the sky and sea using personification, simile, and imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There were many skies. The sky was invaded by great white clouds, flat on the bottom but round and billowy on top. The sky was completely cloudless, of a blue quite shattering to the senses. The sky was a heavy, suffocating blanket of grey cloud, but without promise of rain…The sky was many clouds at many levels, some thick and opaque, others looking like smoke. The sky was black and spitting rain on my smiling face. The sky was nothing but falling water, a ceaseless deluge that wrinkled and bloated my skin and froze me stiff.
There were many seas. The sea roared like a tiger. The sea whispered in your ear like a friend telling you secrets. The sea clinked like small change in a pocket. The sea thundered like avalanches. The sea hissed like sandpaper working on wood. The sea sounded like someone vomiting. The sea was dead silent.
Related Themes:
