Read the excerpt from Part 4 of The Odyssey. I happened to glance aft at ship and oarsmen and caught sight of their arms and leg
s, dangling high overhead. Voices came down to me in anguish, calling my name for the last time. A man surfcasting on a point of rock for bass or mackerel, whipping his long rod to drop the sinker and the bait far out, will hook a fish and rip it from the surface to dangle wriggling through the air: so these were borne aloft in spasms toward the cliff. Which statement best explains the simile in this excerpt? Odysseus’s men are compared to fishermen, showing their resourcefulness. Odysseus’s men are compared to fishermen, showing their love of the sea. Odysseus’s men are compared to caught fish, showing their history. Odysseus’s men are compared to caught fish, showing their helplessness.
The best answer is <span>Odysseus’s men are compared to caught fish, showing their helplessness.
The fishing metaphor certainly is not comparing the men to the fisherman, the man in the position of power and safe on solid rock. The men are the fish, being flung out of the water by the sheer force of the storm. They are suffering and helpless, with "feet dangling high overhead", voices calling to Odysseus "in anguish", and "calling his name for the last time". They are the fish, not the fisherman.
Best answer is D) </span><span>Odysseus’s men are compared to caught fish, showing their helplessness</span>
Honestly, I would guess C. The author compares grief to a wet mop to show that when the time for grieving ends, each person must let go of it on his or her own.
