Simile Vs. Metaphor

(written on November 22, 2019)

Similes and metaphors are examples of figurative language which enhance and add flavor to writing. They are both two different ways of expressing comparisons in literature. Take these two examples:

• The boy is as tall as a giraffe.

• The boy is a giraffe.

The first sentence is a simile. A simile uses the two key words “like” or “as” to compare two different things. In the situation of a simile, the reader mentally compares two different things (in this case the boy and the giraffe). The second sentence is an example of a metaphor. Metaphors directly compare two different things by identifying one object as the other. There is no use of “like” or “as” in the comparison. That is why the second sentence says that the boy is a giraffe. In this situation, the reader is able to feel the comparison between the two objects more intensely because they are being identified as the same.