A simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. By using similes in a story the reader can help enhance the author's message in different ways. In the stories “The Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs and “Canyons” by Gary Paulsen the authors use similes to help the reader visualize the setting and characters.
In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw”, similes are used to help the readers visualize many things throughout the story. For instance the author writes “Without hearing his wife’s scream, the old man smiled weakly, put out his hands like a blind man, and fell, a senseless mass, to the floor. “ The author uses the simile, “put out his hands like a blind man,” to help the reader visualize what he is doing and help the reader understand the shock he is feeling. Also W. W. Jacobs
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‘As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake.’” The author uses the simile “twisted in my hand like a snake.” to help the reader visualize the movement of the paw, and how it made him feel as he was holding a dangerous item,and it also helps the reader understand his fear of it. Beyond a shadow of a doubt the author utilizes a simile in the line “It was so quiet that it could only be heard