Read the following excerpt from the poem "the fish" by elizabeth bishop:

i caught a tremendous fish and held him beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of his mouth. he didn't fight. he hadn't fought at all. he hung a grunting weight, battered and venerable and homely. here and there his brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper, and its pattern of darker brown was like wallpaper:

which best describes the effect of simile on the overall meaning in this excerpt?

a. it explains that the fish is like a pattern to illustrate just how old it appears to the speaker.

b. it describes the fish as battered and homely to build on the theme of disillusionment.

c. it compares the fish's skin to wallpaper to support the image of a shabby but admirable fish.

d. it makes the fish take on the qualities of a grandparent to show how much the speaker respects it.