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Mans Everlasting Breath of Winter

            Winter is the season known for being dreadfully long and harsh due to its fierce conditions and unwillingness to cease. Such winters are most notably observed in the Northern Hemisphere and at the poles. Loren Eiseley's essay "The Winter of Man", aims to bestow on the reader a new outlook on human life. Many of Eiseley's thoughts are studied through the essay to help persuade the reader. Loren Eiseley utilizes imagery to improve the reader's chasm of intelligence. She subsequently develops these images through simile and allusion, changing people's perception into that of her own personal thoughts and opinions.
             To effectively convey her perspective on human life, Eiseley uses simile to aid in the description of her views, creating an everlasting impression on the reader. It is through her common portrayals of everyday experiences, that the similes are embraced. Natures" glacial ice is described "like a kind of sleepy dragon" (Eiseley 81), which then, "crept forth to harry man once more" (Eiseley 81). The statement is common enough that the reader is taken back to a time in their life in which they had read a fairy tale, making it easier to comprehend. Eiseley accomplishes this by referring to a "sleepy dragon", a figure closely associated with a child's novel. This simile allows the reader to picture in their minds a sleepy dragon, tormenting people as they usually do in fictional stories. Eiseley engages the fact that humans are not in control of their lives or their surroundings as they think they are. Glacial ice is currently dormant, however, Eiseley .
             speculates that if it were to become active again, "swarming millions who now populate the planet may mostly perish. . . Like the devouring locust swarms that gather in favourable summers. . ." .
             (Eiseley 82). Comparing humans to a swarm of locus depicts a feasible image in the readers" memory of how insignificant and feeble man is in comparison to nature.


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