The iron guard bit into the house-corner, crumbled the wall, and wrenched the little house from its foundation so that it fell sideways, crushed like a bug.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 5. Strong imagery is used to demonstrate the extent of the destruction on the lives of the Oklahoman tenant farmers by industrialized agriculture. The tractor is personified with a description of how it "eats" the farmer’s house. A simile tells us how the house is "crushed like a bug."