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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—Like a Painting:
When capturing the wounded lieutenant’s experience of viewing the battle from afar, the narrator uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
As the wounded officer passed from the line of battle, he was enabled to see many things which as a participant in the fight were unknown to him. He saw a general on a black horse gazing over the lines of blue infantry at the green woods which veiled his problems. An aide galloped furiously, dragged his horse suddenly to a halt, saluted, and presented a paper. It was, for a wonder, precisely like a historical painting.
The simile here—in which the narrator refers to the battle scene as being “like a historical painting”—captures something important about the lieutenant’s inner experience in this moment. For the first time, with some distance, he is able “to see many things which as the participant in the fight were unknown to him,” such as a black horse grazing at edge of the forest and an aide passing on a message to a soldier while on horseback.
While immersed in the battle, the lieutenant likely saw such things, but he had no perspective or sense of a bigger picture. Now, in a moment of relative safely, he can see the beauty of the scene. This is Crane’s way of suggesting both that perspective is important in understanding the beauty and choreography of war and also that such perspective is only available to those who are privileged enough not to serve at the frontlines.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Face as Gray as a Blanket:
When describing some of the concerning sights that the lieutenant sees as he approaches the hospital, the narrator uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
There was a dispute of some kind raging on the steps of the schoolhouse. Sitting with his back against a tree a man with a face as gray as a new army blanket was serenely smoking a corncob pipe. The lieutenant wished to rush forward and inform him that he was dying.
The simile here—in which the narrator describes a man “with a face as gray as a new army blanket”—adds to the sense of unease in this scene and also helps readers to visualize the sort of ailing soldiers who have ended up at the hospital. The lieutenant’s urge to “rush forward” and tell the gray-faced man that he is dying communicates just how unwell the man looks, and it also helps readers understand why the lieutenant does not want to enter the hospital at the end of the story (despite the surgeon’s insistence that they would be able to save his arm). In other words, the lieutenant does not want to end up on the verge of death after seeking help, the way the gray-faced man is. While an older or more experienced soldier may have more perspective on the situation, the young lieutenant is so disturbed by seeing this dying man that he refuses to even try to seek treatment himself.
Related Themes:
