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On its cosmic pedestal, the sun was like the fire that had sent us out of the sky, only worse. It wore and dried us up in the desert for who knows how long. With twenty other people, it was something like a bad dream. So when it came over the mountains like a cupped hand of salvation, we all dropped to our knees in praise. A rescue helicopter…
The use of similes can convey a theme when analyzed. For say, the above could easily convey the theme that good things come to those who wait. In John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl”, similes express the theme that humility is followed by fortune, and in turn, by greed by having those same similes symbolize that which builds the theme.
To establish the humility aspect of the theme, we can examine page seven. This is when the protagonist, Kino, presents misshapen pearls to pay for a doctor. Notice the figurative language in the following excerpt: “He brought out a piece of paper folded many times. Crease by crease he unfolded it until at last there came to view eight small, misshapen seed pearls as ungy and gray as little ulcers, flattened and almost valueless.” (Page. 7). In the passage, the simile compared the pearls to ulcers which are unsightly and wouldn’t come from the middle class at most. With that in mind, the simile can explain that Kino ranked low in society, but is content with what little he has because he is satisfied with such pearls of little value. That by definition makes him humble and to be humble is what builds the first part of the theme. In the thematic statement, humility is followed by fortune, and this fortune can be found on page ten: “It was as large as a sea-gulls egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world.” (Page 10). This pearl, which was Kino’s discovery, was described by a simile, (“...as large as a sea-gulls egg…”) which symbolizes the large fortune gained by Kino. This simile-found fortune conveys the next part of the theme that humility is followed by fortune, and in turn, by greed. The last point demonstrating how similies can express a theme in “The Pearl” is on page twelve where the news of Kino’s great discovery had spread through the town. Again, notice the figurative language: “The news stirred up something infinitely black and evil in the town; the black distillate was like the scorpion, or like hunger in the smell of food or like the loneliness when lobe is withheld.” (Page 12). In the excerpt, the numerous similes present greed. When one is hungry, as in the second simile, and yet smells food, a desire will grow strong and selfishness will take over, or in other words, greed. This final simile of greed completes the story that when in chronological order, a theme can be derived from: Humility is followed by fortune, and in turn, by greed.
Figurative language can represent a lot of themes when examined. John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl” used similes to express the universal theme that humility is accompanied by fortune, and in turn, by greed having similes creates a story, and when explored, can have a theme built on its essence.
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