is "I was just a beast before, obeying every desire of my body " a metaphor?

Answer 1

Hi, Mikquala!

Yes, I would call that a metaphor because the person is saying that they are/have been "a beast." A metaphor is when two unlike things are compared by a speaker saying the one is the other. If the speaker had said they were "like a beast," that would be a simile.

Hope that helps!

Katie

Answer 2

Hi Mikquala,

Katie's right. Notice two other things:

1. Good similes and metaphors tend to be specific. For similes, compare "I fled through the woods like an animal" / "I fled through the woods like an injured mouse" / "I fled through the woods like a starving wolf" / "I fled through the woods like the ghost of a hawk."
2. Metaphors tend to be even more concrete and direct. In a political discussion, compare "The United States seemed almost like some kind of rudderless ship" (a simile that could be improved by cutting several unnecessary words!) with "We woke to a strange silence, and came on deck to find that the passenger ship America - the most majestic liner on all the democratic ocean - was rudderless and drifting, at the mercy of the approaching storm." That has lots of "unnecessary" words ... but is much more vivid and powerful.

Next sentence: "A sudden banging led us to the engine room, where a madman was attacking the engines ..." Isn't this fun?! The search for arresting metaphors and similes is one reason writers get up in the morning.

All the best

- Richard