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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Diving Helmet:
Twice, Griffin’s bandage-covered appearance is compared to a diving helmet. First, Mrs. Hall uses the simile in Chapter 1 when speaking about Griffin's strange appearance, saying:
And they goggles! Why, he looked more like a divin’-helmet than a human man!
This simile serves to further dehumanize Griffin. By describing his appearance as something more akin to an object than a human, Mrs. Halls paints him as something other—something outside the natural order of things and, thus, rather creepy.
The stranger (Griffin) is outside the normal social order of Iping, both because he is a stranger and because he is strange looking. Thus, Griffin elicits fear and suspicion from the townsfolk of Iping. Just because that suspicion is validated by Griffin being malicious does not mean that the suspicion does not serve to paint the people of Iping, in this case Ms. Hall, as provincial.
The second time the simile appears, the narrator uses a similar simile to refer to Griffin’s appearance when Mrs. Hall confronts him at the inn regarding his unpaid bill in Chapter 7:
The stranger stood looking more like an angry diving-helmet than ever. It was universally felt in the bar that Mrs. Hall had the better of him. His next words showed as much.
The simile emphasizes Griffin’s strangeness. Mrs. Hall is a native of the town, so the townspeople root for her in the dispute because they know her. She is open to the world. On the other hand, Griffin is isolated, both in appearance and due to his habits.
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