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Setting
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 7
Explanation and Analysis—The World's Beauty:
Piranesi struggles to adapt to his life in the real world as Matthew Rose Sorensen. However, in the novel's closing scene, he walks through a park and feels at peace among the rich sensory images of the contemporary world:
It began to snow. The low clouds made a grey ceiling for the city; the snow muffled the noise of the cars until it became almost rhythmical; a steady, shushing noise, like the sound of tides beating endlessly on marble walls.
I closed my eyes. I felt calm.
There was a park. I entered it and followed a path through an avenue of tall, ancient trees [...] The pale snow sifted down through bare winter branches. The lights of the cars on the distant road sparkled through the trees: red, yellow, white.
Note how imagery of the real world blends with imagery of the House. Piranesi uses simile to compare the sound of cars driving through snow to the sound of the House's tides. He goes on to see people in the park whom he recognizes as being depicted among the House's many statues. These familiar sights and sounds suggest that the real world and the world of the House are not as disconnected as it seems.
Indeed, Piranesi observes and catalogues the real world with the same reverence and scientific specificity with which he observed and catalogued the House, describing in minute detail the particular lights, colors, and beings that surround him. The novel ends by repeating Piranesi's prayer-like assertion that "The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite," suggesting that the House's magic is accessible even in contemporary life, if only one takes genuine interest in knowing and communicating with the world around them.
Related Themes:
