A Letter to God – ‘The field was white as if covered with salt”

Textbook – First Flight (NCERT)

CBSE Class 10

Lesson 1 – A Letter to God

A Letter to God Figure of Speech

Find the literary device in the following statement – ‘THE FIELD WAS WHITE AS IF COVERED WITH SALT.”

Simile Definition – A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two things using the words “like” or “as” to create a comparison. In this statement, the field is compared to salt, using the word “as.”

Why can’t it be a metaphor?

Although the statement “THE FIELD WAS WHITE AS IF COVERED WITH SALT” may seem similar to a metaphor, it is actually a simile because it uses the word “as” to make the comparison between the field and salt explicit.

Metaphors compare two things by stating that one thing is another thing, without using the words “like” or “as.” For example, a metaphorical statement could be “The field was a blanket of snow.” In this statement, the field is directly compared to a blanket of snow, without using “like” or “as” to create the comparison.

In the original statement, however, “as” is used to create a comparison between the field and salt, which makes it a simile rather than a metaphor.

Simile to Metaphor Worksheet with Answers

Let’s understand by reading some examples of metaphors and similes

Metaphors:

1. She has a heart of stone. (This means that she is not kind or sympathetic and is compared to an object – a stone – to emphasize this.)
2. Life is a journey. (This means that life is compared to a journey, with all its ups and downs, to emphasize its transformative and unpredictable nature.)

Similes:

1. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds. (This means that her eyes are compared to diamonds, using the word “like” to show their brightness and beauty.)
2. The wind was as cold as ice. (This means that the coldness of the wind is compared to the coldness of the ice, using the word “as” to emphasize the similarity.)