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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
7. Carnival of Alligators
Explanation and Analysis—Alligator Hounds:
Six weeks after Riggs leaves Kerans, Beatrice, and Bodkin behind in the drowned city, Strangman and his crew appear. Ballard uses first a simile, then a metaphor to describe the terrifying "carnival of alligators" Strangman appears to have under his control:
The alligators congregated like hounds around their master, the wheeling cries of the dense cloud of sentinel birds overhead, Nile plover and stone curlew, piercing the morning air. More and more of the alligators joined the pack, cruising shoulder to shoulder in a clock-wise spiral, until at least two thousand were present, a massive group incarnation of reptilian evil.
By comparing the alligators to "hounds around their master," Ballard emphasizes the supernatural sway Strangman appears to have over these wild animals. Alligators are among the most dangerous animals in the lagoon. Native to more equatorial climates than London, they represent the spread of the the "jungle" northwards. Reptilian predators, they give the impression that dinosaurs might be soon to rule the Earth once more. Kerans and the other humans stationed in the drowned city have never had a chance of controlling the alligators; Riggs ultimately deemed the place uninhabitable to humans in part because it was becoming so much more hospitable to wild and dangerous creatures like this. Strangman, however, has trained the alligators as though they are merely dogs eager to please him.
As the passage goes on, Ballard's use of the word "hound" (rather than dog) becomes especially provocative. The alligators congregate around Strangman in a huge "clock-wise spiral," almost as though they are forming an ouroboros. This old symbol of a snake circling around to eat its own tail commonly represents destruction and rebirth, but Kerans interprets it as "a massive group incarnation of reptilian evil." In short, they seem satanic. These alligators are not only dog-like; they are a metaphorical pack of hellhounds that Strangman controls with an entire force of "sentinel birds." Before Kerans has even spoken to Strangman, the newcomer thus appears to be less human than devil. He has extraordinary power over nature. However, instead of getting excited about the possibility that Strangman might save humanity by remaking the world, Kerans is terrified. He immediately understands that any world Strangman might usher in would be unnatural and "evil."
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