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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
Similes
Explanation and Analysis—Like Headphones:
Near the beginning of the story, as Shaila is processing the news of the deaths of her husband and sons in a terrorist attack, she takes Valium to help with her panic. When describing the effects of the pills, she uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
I wonder if pills alone explain this calm. Not peace, just a deadening quiet. I was always controlled, but never repressed. Sound can reach me, but my body is tensed, ready to scream. I hear their voices all around me. I hear my boys and Vikram cry, “Mommy, Shaila!” and their screams insulate me, like headphones.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Like Shapeshifters:
Near the end of the story, the government social worker Judith Templeton tells Shaila that it is positive that she has arrived at the stage of grief where she accepts reality as it is, letting go of her dead family members in the process. In Shaila’s internal reflections on Judith's judgment of her, she uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+How do I tell Judith Templeton that my family surrounds me, and that like creatures in epics, they’ve changed shapes? She sees me as calm and accepting but worries that I have no job, no career. My closest friends are worse off than I. I cannot tell her my days, even my nights, are thrilling.
Related Themes:
