EWKB+The+Big+Idea

Similes - the idea of contrast - plays a key role in exploring poetry. Similes give us an opportunity to link two things or ideas that previously we'd never have connected, and somehow we find links or commonalities that take our understanding of the image or poem to a richer level. If we stay with the Muhammad Ali quote, how do the similes of float like a butterfly, sting like a bee enhance our understanding of Ali the boxer. (Remember that he is known as the Greatest.) What are your memories of boxing matches? How did the boxers move around the ring? How did the fight look? smell? sound? Chances are pretty good that you can smell the sweat pouring off the chins of the boxers, see the blood from their noses, and hear the boxing gloves pounding opponents, each other, the ring. So, when Ali describes himself floating like a butterfly, we're suddenly forced to hear the silence in the fight, to imagine the boxer's feet barely touched the surface. We recall how the boxer's move on their toes so much of the time, to give them speed and agility as needed. Sting like a bee is clear on one level: bees sting. As far as the comparison goes, we understand that Ali's 'stings' - his hits - hurt a lot. Also, consider the idea that a bee stings something much bigger than it is; we learn, then, that no matter the size or stature of Ali's opponents, he had the power to inflict pain, and ultimately to win.

What about the use of nature to make this comparison? Does this change our understanding of Ali? He somehow seems less brutal and violent, and instead part of the natural world where one has to defend himself and can be as beautiful as a butterfly in doing so.