Catch-22

by Joseph Heller

Catch-22: Similes 2 key examples

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
Chapter 3: Havermeyer
Explanation and Analysis—Billowing Pendants:

In Chapter 3, Heller constructs a quite unusual sex scene, using a series of similes and imagery. This scene, first described here, will come back up throughout the novel: 

Each time she landed with the heel of her shoe, Orr giggled louder, infuriating her still further so that she flew up still higher into the air for another shot at his noodle, her wondrously full breasts soaring all over the place like billowing pennants in a strong wind and her buttocks and strong thighs shim-sham-shimmying this way and that like some horrifying bonanza.

Chapter 22: Milo the Mayor
Explanation and Analysis—Pomaded Pup Tent:

Heller describes Orr's face in rich visual imagery in Chapter 22:

He had a raw bulgy face, with hazel eyes squeezing from their sockets like matching brown halves of marbles and thick, wavy particolored hair sloping up to a peak on the top of his head like a pomaded pup tent.

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