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Setting
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
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Boo's Head:
In Chapter 1, Jem shares a tale that he's heard about Boo Radley, claiming that Miss Stephanie Crawford once woke up to Boo watching her in the night. According to Jem, Miss Stephanie used a particular simile to describe this experience:
Jem said, “He goes out, all right, when it’s pitch dark. Miss Stephanie Crawford said she woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her . . . said his head was like a skull lookin’ at her."
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Dill and Boo Radley:
In the following passage from Chapter 1, Scout describes Dill's relationship to and morbid fascination with the Radley House.
Unlock with LitCharts A+The Radley Place fascinated Dill. In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon draws water, but drew him no nearer than the light-pole on the corner, a safe distance from the Radley gate. There he would stand, his arm around the fat pole, staring and wondering.
Related Themes:
Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Mount Everest:
In Chapter 9, Scout complains about her Aunt Alexandra, using a combination of simile and allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Had I ever harbored the mystical notions about mountains that seem to obsess lawyers and judges, Aunt Alexandra would have been analogous to Mount Everest: throughout my early life, she was cold and there.
Related Themes:
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Tim Johnson:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 10, Scout describes an old, infected dog named Tim Johnson:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Tim Johnson was advancing at a snail’s pace, but he was not playing or sniffing at foliage: he seemed dedicated to one course and motivated by an invisible force that was inching him toward us. We could see him shiver like a horse shedding flies; his jaw opened and shut; he was alist, but he was being pulled gradually toward us.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Underwater Swimmers:
In the following passage from Chapter 10, Scout describes a scenario where Atticus is forced to shoot a dying dog. She uses simile to paint the scene, characterizing her father for readers' benefit:
Unlock with LitCharts A+In a fog, Jem and I watched our father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street. He walked quickly, but I thought he moved like an underwater swimmer: time had slowed to a nauseating crawl.
Related Themes:
Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Oncoming Anger:
In this passage from Chapter 11, Scout uses both hyperbole and simile to describe an agonizing wait at home, following Jem's decision to destroy Mrs. Dubose's flowers.
Unlock with LitCharts A+Two geological ages later, we heard the soles of Atticus’s shoes scrape the front steps. The screen door slammed, there was a pause—Atticus was at the hat rack in the hall—and we heard him call, “Jem!” His voice was like the winter wind.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Mrs. Dubose:
In Chapter 11, Scout and Jem must reckon with their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Dubose. The children start out despising the older woman, on account of her mean-spirited nature and penchant for insulting Atticus. Scout illuminates this hatred through her use of simile in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Her mouth seemed to have a private existence of its own. It worked separate and apart from the rest of her, out and in, like a clam hole at low tide. Occasionally it would say, “Pt,” like some vicious substance coming to a boil.
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Chapter 21
Explanation and Analysis—Comfort:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 21, Jem uses a simile to describe how his feelings regarding Maycomb have changed following the first Tom Robinson trial:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Jem was staring at his half-eaten cake. “It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is,” he said. “Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like.”
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Underwater Swimmers:
In the following passage from Chapter 10, Scout describes a scenario where Atticus is forced to shoot a dying dog. She uses simile to paint the scene, characterizing her father for readers' benefit:
Unlock with LitCharts A+In a fog, Jem and I watched our father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street. He walked quickly, but I thought he moved like an underwater swimmer: time had slowed to a nauseating crawl.
Related Themes:
