Simile

"They were slaughter sheep's eyes. They even had the mascara--I remembered how, on the day of Eid of qorban, the mullah in our backyard used to apply mascara to the eyes of the sheep and feed it a cube of sugar before slicing it's throat. I thought I saw pleading in Sohrab's eyes" (pg 285). One particular literary technique that Khaled Hosseini uses to describe memories vividly, is the use of metaphors and similes. In this chapter of the novel, Amir refers to the look in Sohrab's eyes to resemble a sheep that is being prepared to be sacrificed. When I read this line, Sohrab portrayed an innocent and naive animal who only wanted to be free. The comparison that Amir makes between the two is what makes the line so powerful, and allows the audience to feel the empathy that Amir felt when seeing Sohrab in such a terrible position. Also, the story is a sequence of memories. Therefore, the comparison between the sheep and Sohrab is a result of Amir's memory. That is exactly how Amir felt about Sohrab in that moment. Withuot the use of similes, the audience would have a more difficult time imagining the look in Sohrab's eyes. The image Amir is trying to portray would not be so realistic.