Question

Go through the notes and examples on Exaggeration and Simile given. “And your mouth is like a section of road that is being worked on. ” What effect does this poetic device produce in the poem? Find out other similes used in the poem.

Answer 1

The simile in the line quoted above is a powerful one as it depicts the pathetic condition of the mouth of the patient. The mouth is kept widely open, “your jaw digging into your chest”. There are all sorts of instruments with which the dentist will repair your teeth. So the mouth is the section of the road and the instruments the dentist uses are the equipment used for repairing the road. Of course, the simile is mingled with exaggeration and thus has a double effect.

Other similes in the poem:

• The dentist is called a bear (This is, strictly speaking, a metaphor). 
• The instrument used by the dentist is called a crowbar (metaphor). 
• The polishing of the teeth is compared to the polishing of a horse’s hoof (implied simile). 
• The patient tottering to his feet, like a drunkard (Implied simile).