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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 Invisible Man
Chapter 1: The Strange Man’s Arrival
Explanation and Analysis—Diving Helmet:
Twice, Griffin’s bandage-covered appearance is compared to a diving helmet. First, Mrs. Hall uses the simile in Chapter 1 when speaking about Griffin's strange appearance, saying:
And they goggles! Why, he looked more like a divin’-helmet than a human man!
Related Themes:
Chapter 7: The Unveiling of the Stranger
Explanation and Analysis—Diving Helmet:
Twice, Griffin’s bandage-covered appearance is compared to a diving helmet. First, Mrs. Hall uses the simile in Chapter 1 when speaking about Griffin's strange appearance, saying:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And they goggles! Why, he looked more like a divin’-helmet than a human man!
Related Themes:
Chapter 20: At the House in Great Portland Street
Explanation and Analysis—Turning Invisible:
In Chapter 20, Griffin uses an evocative image to explain the experience of being turned invisible to Doctor Kemp:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The pain had passed. I thought I was killing myself and I did not care. I shall never forget that dawn, and the strange horror of seeing that my hands had become as clouded glass, and watching them grow clearer and thinner as the day went by, until at last I could see the sickly disorder of my room through them, though I closed my transparent eyelids. My limbs became glassy, the bones and arteries faded, vanished, and the little white nerves went last. I gritted my teeth and stayed there to the end. At last only the dead tips of the fingernails remained, pallid and white, and the brown stain of some acid upon my fingers.
Related Themes:
Chapter 23: In Drury Lane
Explanation and Analysis—Greasy Glimmer:
When, in Chapter 23, Griffin explains to Mr. Kemp how weather affects him, he uses a curious set of similes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And fog—I should be like a fainter bubble in a fog, a surface, a greasy glimmer of humanity.
Related Themes:
