What Is The Similes In The San Francisco Earthquake

The San Francisco Earthquakes

Jack London and Mark Twain wrote stories on the sights of two different earthquakes that happened in San Francisco. Although the stories were on two different earthquakes, they share similar stylistic elements such as similes/metaphors, intense word choice, and mood.

Twain uses a series of similes to describe what he witnessed during the earthquake. Although Twain is mostly criticizing the actions of people, he describes the city briefly. For example, Twain says, “...and then drop the end of a brick on the floor like a tooth.” and “...meeting earth like a slender grave.” Twain uses these similes to add a sense of horror and imagery for the reader. It emphasizes the destruction of the city and the intensity of the earthquake. Twain's’ similes are not subtle rather they are very intense to truly help the reader see the destruction and really understand why he is connecting it what he is comparing it to. The similes make sense, they may be simple, but the context

of them make the similes a huge part of the essay. Like Twain, London uses metaphors to get his vision of the earthquake to the reader. For example, London says, “...was a lurid tower visible a hundred miles away.” London's metaphors are hidden deep within the story, they are hard to point out and notice. Like Twain, they are imagery for the reader, they are what makes the reader truly see what they witnessed. London does not use such intense comparisons, but his intention was the same.
Twain uses strong vocabulary to emphasize what he witnessed.

Twain uses words such as vomiting, squirming, grinding, terrific, disgusted, and foolishness. Although the context surrounding each word is different, the words are there simply show the reader how intense the earthquake was or how ridiculous people acted when facing a frightening situation. The words are in place to not only add the emphasis on the earthquake, but they do it for the people and their actions, for the things that took place, and for what he witnessed in general. Just as Twain used words that intensify his writing, London's words are more violent rather than sweet and short, but they have the same intention. London uses words like, smashed, piled, humped, burst, twitching, and thrown. His words are more violent because London is trying to really emphasize the destruction rather than the actions of people. London's’ word choice adds more imagery for the reader and it adds more interest and

curiosity.
Finally, Twain uses imagery that was quite descriptive. For example, he says, “the passengers were pouring out of both ends.” and “in all sorts of queer apparel.” These sentences are not very descriptive, but he can still add the sense of imagery in with the sentences. Twain has imagery that does not stick out but as you read along with the flow of the story, the sentences are still describing what he saw. Just as, London uses a whole lot of imagery with his story because his is truly about the city itself. He says, “It was dead calm.” and “The steel rails were twisted into perpendicular and horizontal angles” These truly show the city, they are a bit more descriptive than Twain's, but they still are adding the sense of imagery.
Twain and London are sharing similar stylistic ideas to get the point across on the earthquake. Similes/metaphors, diction, and imagery are what truly made the stories stand out, but not over each other. These ideas are what really showed the similarities between the earthquakes and the authors.