The Postmaster
by Rabindranath Tagore

The Postmaster: Similes 1 key example

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 Postmaster

Similes
Explanation and Analysis—Like the Earth’s Tears:

Near the end of the story, when the Postmaster is on his way home to Calcutta by boat, the narrator combines a simile and personification to describe the water around the man:

When he was on the boat and it had set sail, when the swollen flood-waters of the river started to heave like the Earth’s brimming tears, the postmaster felt a huge anguish: the image of a simple young village-girl’s grief-stricken face seemed to speak a great inarticulate universal sorrow.