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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
Part 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Catlike Clare:
In this passage, Larsen uses a simile comparing Clare to a cat to explain her contradictory character. Thinking of the time when she used to know her in Chicago, Irene describes what it's like to be around Clare:
Catlike. Certainly that was the word which best described Clare Kendry, if any single word could describe her. Sometimes she was hard and apparently without feeling at all; sometimes she was affectionate and rashly impulsive. And there was about her an amazing soft malice, hidden away until provoked. Then she was capable of scratching, and very effectively too. Or, driven to anger, she would fight with a ferocity and impetuousness that disregarded or forgot any danger; superior strength, numbers or other unfavorable circumstances.
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Part 1, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Lovely Laughter:
The first time Irene encounters Clare in Passing, Larsen uses auditory imagery and a simile comparing Clare's laugh to a a delicate bell. Through this, the author demonstrates the intense, immediate charms Clare possesses:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The woman laughed, a lovely laugh, a small sequence of notes that was like a trill and also like the ringing of a delicate bell fashioned of a precious metal, a tinkling [...]
Related Themes:
