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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—The Old Boat:
On the banks of the Meenachal, the twins find an old, rundown boat, which they describe with childlike personification and a simile:
They looked across the river with Old Boat eyes. From where they stood they couldn’t see the History House. It was just a darkness beyond the swamp, at the heart of the abandoned rubber estate, from which the sound of crickets swelled.
Estha and Rahel lifted the little boat and carried it to the water. It looked surprised, like a grizzled fish that had surfaced from the deep. In dire need of sunlight. It needed scraping, and cleaning, perhaps, but nothing more.
Estha and Rahel compare the Old Boat to a fish returned from the deep, covered in muck and river plants. It is dirty, but like a fish, it is alive beneath the surface, ready to ride the currents of the river. The twins also use personification, attributing a look of surprise to the Old Boat. This example of personification demonstrates the childlike perspective and imaginative tendencies of Estha and Rahel, as they imbue a basic object like a boat with animal-like mannerisms and appearances. The Old Boat is shocked to have been found by two children, to have been dragged back into the sunlight. Through the discovery of this boat, the reader continues to understand how the twins use personification, similes, and metaphors to escape from their tired and sometimes cruel reality.
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