One of my personal favorites is a “A Day's Wait" by Ernest Hemingway. In what some find boring, Hemingway illustrates how simple misunderstandings can lead to unnecessary reactions.

The main character is a young boy, Schatz who catches influenza. He becomes very frigid and with talk much to his dad after learning that his temperature is 110°F. His dad doesn't understand his boy's sudden frigid behavior but as time passes, the boy opens up saying he knows he's going to die anyway and so there's no need to take the meds.

His dad asks why and he laments about his “high temperature". Back in school, he'd learnt that at a temperature beyond 44°C a person could die.

His father, thankfully knowing about thermometer scales, explains that he's missing the whole point. He shows poor Schatz that there's a different between the Degree Celsius and Fahrenheit scales. He likens it to Miles and kilometers and the boy's tension now reduces as light floods into his clogged up mind.

In this story, Hemingway draws on the theme that misunderstanding of simple facts can lead to irrational behavior and that assurance or explanation from someone who is in the light can help clear the fog.

Interestingly, it was a simple use of simile that solved Schatz’ predicament