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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 7
Explanation and Analysis—Death-Like Trees:
In Chapter 7, Oliver resolves to run away from the Sowerberry house after he is punished for defending his late mother from Noah Claypole's insults. The narrator uses dark and light imagery and a simile comparing trees to gravestones to emphasize the interplay between Oliver's desperate situation and his hope for a better life:
It was a cold dark night. The stars seemed to the boy’s eyes further from the earth than he had ever seen them before; there was no wind, and the sombre shadows thrown by the trees on the earth looked sepulchral and death-like, from being so still. He softly reclosed the door, and, having availed himself of the expiring light of the candle to tie up in a handkerchief the few articles of wearing apparel he had, sat himself down upon a bench to wait for morning.
Related Themes:
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Sikes's Dog:
Sikes's dog is a motif that comes to symbolize the idea of loyalty and the dangers of unquestioningly following powerful leaders. This motif occurs in Chapter 16, when Sikes and Nancy have taken Oliver away from Mr. Brownlow's house. Sikes has just told his dog to lunge at Oliver's throat if he says anything to prevent his being taken back to Fagin:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The dog growled again, and, licking his lips, eyed Oliver as if he were anxious to attach himself to his windpipe without any unnecessary delay.
"He's as willing as a Christian, strike me blind if he isn't," said Sikes, regarding the animal with a kind of grim and ferocious approval.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Anti-Semitism:
Oliver Twist has often been accused of anti-Semitism, and for good reason: the text uses anti-Semitic stereotypes to turn Jewishness, especially Fagin's Jewishness, into a metaphor for corruption and criminality. One instance of this comparison occurs in chapter 19, when Fagin goes to Sikes to arrange the burglary on the Maylies' house:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It was a chill, damp, windy night [...]. It seemed just the night when it befitted such a being as the Jew to be abroad. As he glided stealthily along, creeping beneath the shelter of the walls and doorways, the hideous old man seemed like some loathsome reptile, engendered in the slime and darkness through which he moved, crawling forth by night in search of some rich offal for a meal.
Related Themes:
Chapter 50
Explanation and Analysis—Sikes's Dog:
Sikes's dog is a motif that comes to symbolize the idea of loyalty and the dangers of unquestioningly following powerful leaders. This motif occurs in Chapter 16, when Sikes and Nancy have taken Oliver away from Mr. Brownlow's house. Sikes has just told his dog to lunge at Oliver's throat if he says anything to prevent his being taken back to Fagin:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The dog growled again, and, licking his lips, eyed Oliver as if he were anxious to attach himself to his windpipe without any unnecessary delay.
"He's as willing as a Christian, strike me blind if he isn't," said Sikes, regarding the animal with a kind of grim and ferocious approval.
Related Themes:
