Hilary McKay, The Skylarks’ War.
Here’s a wonderful use of simile. Look at the way the context makes the figurative language feel inevitable.
In Chapter 48 of the novel, one of the young protagonists has died in the First World War and his sister and friend are trying to reconcile themselves to his death, whilst walking in the countryside. ‘ The November day became quiet again. Under the hedge, a blackbird turned over dead leaves like someone flicking through a book to find the illustrations.’ The narrative powerfully employs a combination of personification and simile to communicate the bleak futility of Simon’s untimely death. The ‘day’ itself seems to have retreated into silent introspection in order to mourn his loss and then the simile ‘like someone flicking through a book to find the illustrations.’ combines different sensory impressions in order to give representation to the search for a meaning behind his death. It feels as if the blackbird himself is trying to assist and find some vivid picture or ‘illustration’ that will make sense of the senseless story that has consigned Simon to being one of the so many ‘dead leaves.’ The passage perfectly explores the dismal randomness of death and the pressing need of the bereaved to find an explanation or even faith in something tangible.
