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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
Explanation and Analysis—A Man Waiting:
In the first part of the short story, the narrator describes the appearance and body language of "a newly married pair" aboard a Great Pullman train. Using a simile, Crane compares the man to a waiting customer in a barbers shop.
From time to time he looked down respectfully at his attire. He sat with a hand on each knee, like a man waiting in a barbers shop. The glances he devoted to other passengers were furtive and shy.
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Explanation and Analysis—Dazzling Fittings:
In the first part, Crane uses imagery and a simile to describe the train's environment to the reader, as Potter himself explains various features of the train to the bride.
Unlock with LitCharts A+He pointed out to her the dazzling fittings of the coach; and in truth her eyes opened wider as she contemplated the sea-green figured velvet, the shining brass, silver, and glass, the wood that gleamed as darkly brilliant as the surface of a pool of oil.
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Explanation and Analysis—A Leaden Slab:
Halfway through the story's first part, as the train edges closer to Yellow Sky, it dawns on Potter that returning home with his bride will require telling the town that he is now married. A simile captures Potter's concern over the town's reaction to this news.
Unlock with LitCharts A+As a matter of truth, Jack Potter was beginning to find the shadow of a deed weigh upon him like a leaden slab. He, the town marshal of Yellow Sky, a man known, liked, and feared in his corner, a prominent person, had gone to San Antonio to meet the girl he believed he loved, and there, after the usual prayers, had actually induced her to marry him, without consulting Yellow Sky for any part of the transaction.
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Explanation and Analysis—Hour of Daylight:
In the story's first part, the town of Yellow Sky becomes a motif linked through metaphor and simile to notions of daylight, discovery, truth, confession, and uncovered secrets. Towards the end of the first part, the narrator describes Potter's reflections on the implications of leaving San Antonio—and its cover of darkness—and accepting the inevitable exposure involved in returning to Yellow Sky.
Unlock with LitCharts A+At San Antonio he was like a man hidden in the dark. A knife to sever any friendly duty, any form, was easy to his hand in that remote city. But the hour of Yellow Sky—the hour of daylight—was approaching.
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Explanation and Analysis—Announcing Death:
In the penultimate paragraph of the first part, as the Potters' short-lived honeymoon aboard the train comes to an end, Crane uses a simile that foreshadows the story's dramatic ending.
Unlock with LitCharts A+“They have to take water here,” said Potter, from a constricted throat and in mournful cadence, as one announcing death.
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Explanation and Analysis—Glances:
In the first part, the narrator takes subtle yet frequent note of other people's glances at the married couple. This focus on people's scrutiny, surveying, and gazes becomes a motif that highlights their obvious inexperience and non-belonging.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
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Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—Scratchy Wilson:
The still, silent atmosphere that Crane develops in the beginning of the second part is interrupted when Scratchy Wilson emerges as a character in the story's action. The first paragraphs of the third part, which feature his arrival, are rich with figurative language. The many instances of imagery, metaphor, and simile in these paragraphs enhance the explosive effect of Scratchy Wilson's appearance.
Unlock with LitCharts A+The man’s face flamed in a rage begot of whiskey. His eyes, rolling, and yet keen for ambush, hunted the still doorways and windows. He walked with the creeping movement of the midnight cat. As it occurred to him, he roared menacing information.
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