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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
Key Examples in The Color Purple
Letter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Celie, Buried:
In Letter 11, Nettie mourns the fact that she will be forced to leave Celie behind—not only because she will miss her sister, but because she loathes Albert and detests the fact that she must leave Celie with him. Nettie uses simile to describe how such emotions manifest:
I sure hate to leave you here with these rotten children, she say. Not to mention with Mr. ____. It’s like seeing you buried, she say. It’s worse than that, I think. If I was buried, I wouldn’t have to work. But I just say, Never mine, never mine, long as I can spell G-o-d I got somebody along.
Related Themes:
Letter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Subverting Colorism:
In Letter 12, Carrie remarks on Shug Avery's attractiveness, implying that beauty depends on skin color. Carrie correlates being "not so pretty" with being "too black," going on to emphasize the darkness of Shug Avery's skin through simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Not so pretty, say Carrie, looking in the looking glass. Just that head of hair. She too black. Well, brother must like black. Shug Avery black as my shoe.
Related Themes:
Letter 16
Explanation and Analysis—A Woman's Face:
In Letter 16, Celie describes an important bonding moment between herself and Harpo. Forced to work the fields while Albert sits idly by, Harpo finds himself submitting to his father's will as a wife might submit to a husband—as Celie herself submits to Albert. Walker alludes to Harpo's budding empathy for Celie through simile:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Me and him out in the field all day. Us sweat, chopping and plowing. I’m roasted coffee bean color now. He black as the inside of a chimney. His eyes be sad and thoughtful. His face begin to look like a woman face.
Related Themes:
Letter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Wives and Children:
In Letter 19, Harpo approaches his father, Mr. ________ (Albert), for marital advice. Sofia refuses to unquestioningly submit to Harpo's will, breaking from the societal norms of domination and obedience Harpo sees modeled by Celie and his father. Albert advocates violence as a remedy for Sofia's insurrection, using simile to compare her to a disobedient child:
Unlock with LitCharts A+You ever hit her? Mr. _____ ast. Harpo look down at his hands. Naw suh, he say low, embarrass. Well how you spect to make her mind? Wives is like children. You have to let ’em know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating.
Related Themes:
Letter 30
Explanation and Analysis—Dreaming of Shug:
In Letter 30, Celie contemplates sexual arousal and attraction, which leads to an examination of her own queerness. She utilizes simile to illustrate these feelings:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Now, now, I say. Sleep on it some, maybe it come back. But I say this just to be saying something. I don’t know nothing bout it. Mr. _____ clam on top of me, do his business, in ten minutes us both sleep. Only time I feel something stirring down there is when I think bout Shug. And that like running to the end of the road and it turn back on itself.
Related Themes:
Letter 56
Explanation and Analysis—Jesus's Hair:
In the following passage from Letter 56, Nettie breaks down her revelation about the Bible and race for Celie's benefit, using simile to make important connections:
Unlock with LitCharts A+It is the pictures in the bible that fool you. The pictures that illustrate the words. All of the people are white and so you just think all the people from the bible were white too. But really white white people lived somewhere else during those times. That’s why the bible says that Jesus Christ had hair like lamb’s wool. Lamb’s wool is not straight, Celie. It isn’t even curly.
Related Themes:
