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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
Letter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Cannibal Mr. B.:
In Letter 11, Pamela writes to her mother about being assaulted by Mr. B. for the first time. She uses a hyperbolic simile to impress upon her mother the difficulty of resisting:
Now you will say, all his Wickedness appear’d plainly. I struggled, and trembled, and was so benumb’d with Terror, that I sunk down, not in a Fit, and yet not myself; and I found myself in his Arms, quite void of Strength, and he kissed me two or three times, as if he would have eaten me.
Pamela's parents have been urging her in every letter to be cautious of Mr. B. Pamela has grown more wary of him over time, especially as she has realized that he is keeping a close watch on her, but she has been reasonably sure that he will not assault her. This assault occurs after Mr. B. rescinds an earlier offer to send Pamela to wait upon his sister, where she thought she would be safer from his attention. Pamela tells her mother that she knows "all his Wickedness appear'd plainly." She seems to be worried that her mother will be disappointed in her for failing to recognize Mr. B.'s agenda. She tries to save face by telling her mother that the assault placed her in a strange state of mind. It was not a "fit," she insists (a seizure or some kind of psychological meltdown), but she was "not [herself]." She emphasizes how he physically overpowered her before telling her mother that he kissed her "as if he would have eaten [her]."
Mr. B. is a violent man, but there is nothing to suggest that Pamela is really ever in danger of being eaten. Pamela uses this exaggerated comparison to emphasize Mr. B.'s voracious sexual appetite. He sees Pamela's body not as something over which she has sovereignty, but rather as something he can use as he wants to satisfy a craving, even if it destroys her. Pamela is making sure her mother knows that nothing about this encounter was consensual.
Related Themes:
The Journal
Explanation and Analysis—Clap of Thunder:
In the Journal, Pamela describes one horrifying night when Mr. B. dresses up as Nan and hides in her bedroom so that Mrs. Jewkes can help him assault her once she is in bed. Pamela uses a simile and imagery to describe her powerlessness when Mr. B. springs upon her:
Said I, Is the Wench mad! Why, how now, Confidence? thinking still it had been Nan. But he kissed me with frightful Vehemence; and then his Voice broke upon me like a Clap of Thunder. Now, Pamela, said he, is the dreadful Time of Reckoning come, that I have threaten’d.—I scream’d out in such a manner, as never any body heard the like. But there was nobody to help me: And both my Hands were secured, as I said.
Pamela compares Mr. B.'s voice to a sudden "clap of thunder." Thunder itself can be startling and loud, and the imagery embedded in the simile helps the reader feel how instantaneously Mr. B.'s voice fills Pamela with fear in this moment. Additionally, thunder is associated with the destructive, sublime power of nature and God. Mr. B. holds the kind of power over Pamela that God and nature hold over humans. Pamela describes the piercing sound of her own scream "as never any body heard the like." This image conveys the fear Pamela feels in response to Mr. B.'s thunderous voice: she knows that he is about to assault her, and it is the worst thing she can imagine happening to her. She goes on to describe how her hands are "secured" so that she cannot fight back. The reader can see the image of Pamela being held down by Mr. B. and Mrs. Jewkes working in cooperation, but the reader is helpless to intervene. What's more, because Pamela is narrating her own experience, the reader can imagine the physical sensation of being held down. In this way, the reader's helplessness and Pamela's helplessness are conflated. By contrast, Pamela's imagery serves to amplify the power her simile has already granted to Mr. B.
Related Themes:
