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
Act 1
Explanation and Analysis—Tabloid Journalism:
Throughout the play, Cliff and Jimmy frequently speak in a manner that parodies the language and tone of popular media, from theater to magazine advertisements. In one such instance, Cliff parodies the sensational tone of tabloid newspapers while comparing Jimmy, in a simile, to a “sexual maniac” due to his endless appetite:
Cliff: Like it! You’re like a sexual maniac – only with you it’s food. You’ll end up in the News of the World, boyo, you wait. James Porter, aged twenty-five, was bound over last week after pleading guilty to interfering with a small cabbage and two tins of beans on his way home from the Builder’s Arms. The accused said he hadn’t been feeling well for some time, and had been having black-outs. He asked for his good record as an air-raid warden, second class, to be taken into account.
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Colonel's Nostalgia:
Throughout the play, Jimmy speaks disparagingly of Alison’s parents, characterizing his father, Colonel Redfern, as a dusty relic of the past Edwardian era. When Alison mentions this to her father, he acknowledges that he does feel a great nostalgia for the past, using imagery and a simile to describe his yearning for the period of his life when he served as a British colonial officer in India:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When I think of it now, it seems like a dream. If only it could have gone on for ever. Those long, cool evenings up in the hills, everything purple and golden. Your mother and I were so happy then. It seemed as though we had everything we could ever want. I think the last day the sun shone was when that dirty little train steamed out of that crowded, suffocating Indian station, and the battalion band playing for all it was worth. I knew in my heart it was all over then. Everything.
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Charade:
Alison returns to the apartment she once shared with Jimmy and Cliff after leaving for her parents’ home for several months at Helena’s urging. In the meantime, however, Helena has moved into the apartment and entered into a romantic relationship with Jimmy. Alison and Helena have a frank conversation in which Alison describes her return to the apartment with two similes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+So many times, I’ve just managed to stop myself coming here – right at the last moment. Even today, when I went to the booking office at St Pancras, it was like a charade, and I never believed that I’d let myself walk on to that train. And when I was on it, I got into a panic. I felt like a criminal. I told myself I’d turn round at the other end, and come straight back. I couldn’t even believe that this place existed any more. But once I got here, there was nothing I could do.
Related Themes:
