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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
Section 1
Explanation and Analysis—Unintelligible Injunction:
As Gregor attempts to save his job by delivering a long speech to the Chief Clerk in Section One, Kafka describes the Chief Clerk's response with two similes:
And while Gregor was speaking he did not stand still one moment but stole away towards the door, without taking his eyes off Gregor, yet only an inch at a time, as if obeying some secret injunction to leave the room.[...] Once in the hall he stretched his right arm before him towards the staircase, as if some supernatural power were waiting there to deliver him.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Gust of Wind:
Kafka uses two similes to describe the Chief Clerk's reaction to seeing Gregor post-metamorphosis:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He was still carrying out this difficult manoeuvre, with no time to observe anything else, when he heard the chief clerk utter a loud “Oh!”—it sounded like a gust of wind—and now he could see the man, standing as he was nearest to the door, clapping one hand before his open mouth and slowly backing away as if driven by some invisible steady pressure.
Related Themes:
Section 2
Explanation and Analysis—Flowered Wallpaper:
When Grete and Gregor's mother try to clear out Gregor's room in Section 2, they catch sight of Gregor perched on the wall in an ironic perversion of nature:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] caught sight of the huge brown mass on the flowered wallpaper, and before she was really conscious that what she saw was Gregor screamed in a loud, hoarse voice: “Oh God, oh God!” fell with outspread arms over the sofa as if giving up and did not move. “Gregor!” cried his sister, shaking her fist and glaring at him.
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Explanation and Analysis—Suffocating Room:
Kafka uses a simile to describe the haste with which Grete opens the window when she enters Gregor's room in Section 2:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] and as if she were almost suffocating tore the casements open with hasty fingers, standing then in the open draught for a while even in the bitterest cold and drawing deep breaths.
Related Themes:
