Analogy

Analogy Definition
An analogy is a comparison in which an idea or thing is compared to another thing that is different from it. It aims to explain that idea or thing by comparing it to something familiar. Metaphors and parables are tools for drawing an analogy. Hence the analogy is larger and more detailed than a simile or metaphor. Consider the following example:

The structure of an atom is like a solar system. The nucleus is the sun and electrons are the planets that revolve around their sun .

Here, an atomic structure is compared to a solar system using the word "like". Hence it is a parable. The metaphor is used to relate the nucleus to the sun and the electrons to the planets without using the words "how" or "how". Hence, similes and metaphors are used to develop an analogy.

Examples of analogy in everyday life
We often use analogies in our daily conversation. Some common examples of analogy are listed below:

Life is like a race. Whoever keeps running wins the race and whoever stops to breathe loses.
Just as A sword is a warrior's weapon, a pen is a writer's weapon .
They're as annoying as nails on a blackboard.
Examples of analogy in literature
Example 1: Night clouds (by Amy Lowell)
The white mares of the moon race along the sky
Beat their golden hooves on the glass sky.

Here the poet constructs an analogy between clouds and mares. She compares the movement of the white clouds in the sky at night with that of the white mares on the ground.

Example 2: A Hanging (By George Orwell)
The following lines are from George Orwell's narrative essay A Hanging, which shows an analogy between a prisoner and a fish.

They huddled very closely around him, their hands always directed towards him Careful, caressing grip, like feeling it all the time, to make sure it's there. It was as if men were handling a fish that was still alive and possibly jumping back into the water.

People bring a prisoner to the gallows to hang him up They hold him tight as if he were a fish that could slide away and escape.

Example 3: The Day Is Over (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow uses the analogy in the following lines from his poem The Day is Done:

Read from a more humble poet,
Whose songs bubbled from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears begin from the eyelids.

He relates his poems to the summer showers and tears from eyes dissimilarity, showing spontaneity of art when it comes straight from the heart of an artist.

Example 4: Romeo and Juliet (by William Shakespeare )
These lines are from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2:

What's in a What we call a rose would smell so sweet through any other word.
So Romeo would, if not called Romeo ...

Juliet indirectly says that she will love Romeo just like a rose that always smells sweet, no matter what its name, even if he changes his name.

Example 5: The Flea (By John Donne)
John Donne uses the analogy of a flea in his poem The Flea to describe his love for his beloved:

This flea is you and me and this
Our marriage bed and wedding temple is…

In the lines quoted he tells his treasure, which, since a flea has sucked blood in both of them and their blood has mixed in its intestines, the flea has become their "wedding bed".

function of Analogy
writers use analogy to connect an unknown or new idea with similarities and familiar objects. This makes it easier for readers to understand a new idea that may have been difficult for them to grasp. By using this literary tool, writers also attract the attention of their readers. Analyzes help to increase readership. Interestingly, analogies help you to relate what you read to your life.

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