Which literary device does the author use in these lines from a short story? So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed
Miss Emily's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand. . . . (from "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner) simile metaphor syntax irony
By comparing the four men to burglars, in the line "four men crossed Miss Emily's lawn and slunk about the house <u>like</u> burglars", the author is using a simile.
A simile is a type of metaphor that uses comparisons to describe an event, someone, a place, etc., while using words like "as", "as in", "like" and others with the purpose of making the writing more colorful and interesting.
