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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
Water Earth
Explanation and Analysis—A Sense of Energy:
Early in the novel, Zhaanat's cousin Gerald, who is a Chippewa "jiisikid," an important spiritual person, comes to town to help locate Vera. After Gerald declares her to be in danger and to have a child, Pixie resolves to go find her. Right after this resolution, she experiences a moment of potent connection with nature which Erdrich describes using vivid imagery:
She stopped. The sense of something there, with her, all around her, swirling and seething with energy. How intimately the trees seized the earth. How exquisitely she was included. Patrice closed her eyes and felt a tug. Her spirit poured into the air like song. Wait! She opened her eyes and threw her weight into her cold feet. This must be how Gerald felt when he flew across the earth. Sometimes she frightened herself.
Indian Joke
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Mist:
In the first third of the book, Erdrich repeats the same simile twice within 20 pages to accentuate the power of humor and gesture toward the presence of singularly Chippewa knowledge. The first instance of the simile occurs after Mr. Vold reviews Thomas's time card from the night before, when he stepped outside to see an owl:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"It means that Thomas the Muskrat went out to smoke a cigar. He sometimes will smoke a Snowy Owl brand. I'd say he got locked out, had to get back in through a window. Or he could have gone right through the wall, like a mist."
LaBatte walked off, laughing. Vold and Doris began laughing too.
"Very funny! Walked through the wall like a mist. Typical Indian joke right there!"
The Wake-Up Shave
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Mist:
In the first third of the book, Erdrich repeats the same simile twice within 20 pages to accentuate the power of humor and gesture toward the presence of singularly Chippewa knowledge. The first instance of the simile occurs after Mr. Vold reviews Thomas's time card from the night before, when he stepped outside to see an owl:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"It means that Thomas the Muskrat went out to smoke a cigar. He sometimes will smoke a Snowy Owl brand. I'd say he got locked out, had to get back in through a window. Or he could have gone right through the wall, like a mist."
LaBatte walked off, laughing. Vold and Doris began laughing too.
"Very funny! Walked through the wall like a mist. Typical Indian joke right there!"
The Star Powwow
Explanation and Analysis—Nature Similes:
Throughout The Night Watchman, Erdrich's writing is highly figurative and full of powerful images. One particular kind of figurative writing stands out as a pattern: similes that concern nature. One great example occurs when Pixie and Zhaanat visit Thomas's home to consult with him about Vera's situation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Noko's head reared back, a swatch of hair flipped up, her eyes bugged so she looked like a maddened egret.
Old Man Winter
Explanation and Analysis—Time and Air:
About halfway through the novel, the onset of winter causes Thomas's father Biboon to ponder the passage of time. Erdrich writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As animals subject to the laws of earth, we think time is experience. But time is more a substance, like air, only of course not air. It is in fact a holy element.
Related Themes:
Edith, Psychic Dog
Explanation and Analysis—Vera's Tornado :
In the second half of the novel, Erdrich gradually writes more and more from Vera's perspective as she escapes Minneapolis and eventually makes her way home. When Vera is first being cared for by Harry, Erdrich writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She kept her eyes shut, but slowly ate the bread. Gradually, as the food made its way into her body, she felt the strangeness of being on the other side of things. As if she'd passed through the guts of a tornado. She was still shaken inside, down to the marrow.
Related Themes:
If
Explanation and Analysis—Nature Similes:
Throughout The Night Watchman, Erdrich's writing is highly figurative and full of powerful images. One particular kind of figurative writing stands out as a pattern: similes that concern nature. One great example occurs when Pixie and Zhaanat visit Thomas's home to consult with him about Vera's situation:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Noko's head reared back, a swatch of hair flipped up, her eyes bugged so she looked like a maddened egret.
