Metaphor is a figure of speech wherein one describes a thing or an action differently from how it is literally perceived, while simile is comparing one thing or action which is literally perceived to another thing that is different but somehow have similarities with. In the short story “A White Heron”, an example of simile is the phrase, “loved him as a dog loves” in the sentence “Dear loyalty, that suffered a sharp pang as the guest went away disappointed later in the day, that could have served and followed him and loved him as a dog loves!”, wherein love is measured and was compared to a dog’s love. This pertains that a dog’s love has impeccable loyalty, and that it could have been like a dog’s love if the guest had not went away disappointed. An example of simile in the story is the phrase “The murmur of the pine's green branches is in her ears,” the branches of a pine tree can’t possibly murmur to Sylvia’s ears, so it must represent the nature. Wherein Sylvia could feel that the nature is telling to her that she should not divulge the secret of the White Heron and she must not speak of it.
