Question

Read the following excerpt from Grendel.

"You're all crazy," I bellowed, "you're all insane!" I'd never howled more loudly in my life. Darts like hot coals went through my legs and arms and I howled more loudly still. And then, just when I was sure I was finished, a shriek ten times as loud as mine came blaring off the cliff. It was my mother! She came roaring down like thunder, screaming like a thousand hurricanes, eyes as bright as dragonfire, and before she was within a mile of us, the creatures had leaped to their horses and galloped away. Big trees shattered and fell from her path; the earth trembled. Then her smell poured in like blood into a silver cup, filling the moonlit clearing to the brim, and I felt the two trees that held me falling, and I was tumbling, free, into the grass.
Select one example of figurative language that the author uses in this excerpt. Identify the type of figurative language used and then explain what the figurative language means and analyze what it tells the reader about Grendel's mother. Be sure to use specific details from the excerpt to support your ideas.

Answer 1

"She came roaring down like thunder, screaming like a thousand hurricanes, eyes as bright as dragonfire". In this particular line, we can see that the author uses a metaphor to describe the movement of Grendel's mother. First, she came roaring like thunder would probably mean that as she approached, she was making loud noises most likely foot stomping and making a fuss. Screaming like a thousand hurricanes means that her screams sound like a thousand hurricanes (very noisy). And her eyes as bright as dragonfire which means that she was very angry.