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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—Shooed Away Like Chickens:
Near the end of the story, Aunt Beryl catches Kezia with the Kelveys in the courtyard of the Burnell family home (after Kezia has invited the two girls to come view the family's dollhouse, against her mother’s wishes). The narrator uses a simile when describing Aunt Beryl's reaction to the Kelveys’ presence, as seen in the following passage:
“How dare you ask the little Kelveys into the courtyard?” said her cold, furious voice. “You know as well as I do, you’re not allowed to talk to them. Run away, children, run away at once. And don’t come back again,” said Aunt Beryl. And she stepped into the yard and shooed them out as if they were chickens.
Here, Aunt Beryl yells at Kezia for inviting the lower-class Kelveys into their home and then “shoo[s] them out as if they were chickens.” This simile communicates how Aunt Beryl (and the town as a whole) treats the Kelveys in a dehumanizing manner. The Kelveys are not children Aunt Beryl chooses to engage with as people, but are animals that she must “shoo” away. This is one of many moments in the story when Mansfield highlights just how harmful socioeconomic hierarchies can be to those who find themselves on the bottom.
Related Themes:
