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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
Part 1, Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Blood and Champagne:
In Part 1, Chapter 7, the narrator uses both a simile and a metaphor ironically, using a combination of three figurative devices to create a single sentence. Here, he discusses the idea that man has become kinder over time because of the evolution of civilization, although it is clearly untrue, as evidenced by the sheer amount of wars going on around the world:
[...] man has become kinder as a result of civilization; consequently, he’s becoming less bloodthirsty and less inclined to war[...]. Just look around: rivers of blood are being spilt, and in the most cheerful way, as if it were champagne[....]. Civilization merely promotes a wider variety of sensations in man and . . . absolutely nothing else. And through the development of this variety man may even reach the point where he takes pleasure in spilling blood. Why, that’s even happened to him already.
There are three levels to the figurative language in this sentence. First, the blood spilt in a war is compared to rivers using a metaphor. The blood is a river with the sheer amount of blood being spilt. Second, the narrator uses a simile to compare the rivers of blood to champagne, showing that it seems to flow in celebration, as champagne does. Third, it is situational irony, given that it seems that people would mourn that much blood flowing, but they celebrate it and encourage more blood to flow. It is the opposite of what one would expect in that situation.
The layers of figurative language here serve to show the impossibility of understanding human nature for what it is. It seems inconceivable that people would simply kill one another for the fun of it and celebrate that destruction, but that is exactly what the narrator is witnessing. He distances himself from the destruction and understands it through many layers of metaphor, simile, and irony.
Related Themes:
