The System of the World Metaphors and Similes

The System of the World Metaphors and Similes

The imagery of Bayne springing

The imagery of Bayne as he springs is enhanced through the use of a simile. In an expression of his anger and ferocity the writer notes: Baynes’s eyes got wide and he lunged like a cobra, yawning. This description thus enhances the reader’s perception of how angry Bayne’s was while promoting imagery at the same time.

White’s glare

A simile is used in the expression of the feeling associated with White’s scowl. The writer notes: “He could feel White’s glare on his face like sunburn. The comparison of the glare to sunburn enables the reader’s perception of the glare as uncomfortable, deep, and tight.

The scampering seamen

The ship occupied by more than one hundred men is so crowded to an extent that there is almost no space left. The seamen are said to scamper like spiders rather than walk upon the deck, a simile that enhances imagery: Rather than trying to walk upon the deck, the sloop’s able seamen scampered like spiders through rigging overhead.

Gravity

The perception of how gravity passes through the earth is enhanced through the use of a simile. In a way, the comparison of how gravity goes through the earth to the way light passes through glass enables the conception of the ease with which this happens: Gravity goes through the earth, like light through a pane of glass.”

The imagery of the yellow cloth

The imagery of Tom the Black-guard’s yellow cloth is brought out through the narrator’s employment of a simile. The appearance of the yellow cloth is compared to the appearance of a lightning bolt, a situation that facilitates imagery: The yellow cloth stood out like a lightning-bolt against the usual black-stained rags.

The estuary

The imagery of the estuary is brought out through the employment of a simile. The writer employs personification giving the estuary the ability to yawn and the imagery of this is made prominent through the comparison to a viper’s mouth. The writer notes: “The estuary yawned east like a viper’s mouth, the Nore spit thrust out in its middle like a barbed tongue.

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