#2 Simile

In the chapter entitled Spin, there is a simile brought into the novel. On page 31, the author states, "the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put fancy spin on it, you could make it dance." The war is like a game of Ping-Pong. There is two sides (just like in war) and each side tries to beat the other. You go back and forth until finally one wins. War is just the same. Enemies fight eachother until one side is the winner. The steps to winning can be easy or can recquire strategy and "games". When O'Brien stated, "fancy spin", in war soldiers can put spin in their day to day routine. This only impacts the way the war would pan out. Also, in the same chapter, the author compares war to a game of checkers. It entails the same qualities as Ping-Pong. There is two sides and each person does tricks to make the other lose. O'Brien does a good job in explaining the similarites, "the enemy is visible, you could watch the tactics unfolding into larger strategies. There was a winner and a loser." War, in a sense, is a game. There can only be one true winner and to become a winner you have to out-win your opponent.