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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—Eerie Children:
The first time that Wendy and Peter appear in the story—abruptly returning home from a carnival—Bradbury uses a pair of similes to capture the pair's eerie energy, as seen in the following passage:
“Hello, Mom. Hello, Dad.”
The Hadleys turned. Wendy and Peter were coming in the front door, cheeks like peppermint candy, eyes like bright blue agate marbles, a smell of ozone on their jumpers from their trip in the helicopter.
“You’re just in time for supper,” said both parents.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Cemetery:
Near the end of the story, George and Lydia decide that it’s time to turn off all of the technology in their Happylife Home in order to free themselves (and their children) from the negative effects of such technology (such as addiction to entertainment, a loss of a sense of purpose, and a lack of close familial relationships). Bradbury uses a simile when describing the effects of the technology being turned off, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[H]e marched about the house turning off the voice clocks, the stoves, the heaters, the shoe shiners, the shoe lacers, the body scrubbers and swabbers and massagers, and every other machine he could put his hand to.
The house was full of dead bodies, it seemed. It felt like a mechanical cemetery. So silent. None of the humming hidden energy of machines waiting to function at the tap of a button.
Related Themes:
