Aura
The author has demonstrated the similarities between Aura and her aunt. As the novel progresses, the reader observes the simile of Consuela for Aura. Aura starts changing in subtle ways, she becomes wiser and her disposition also begin to be resembling with Consuela. She also becomes afraid of old age and the pangs of separation like Consuela. She asks Montero again and again whether he would love her until her hair grows white or not. She wanted him to assure her that time would not affect their relationship and Montero gives this assurance.
Through Aura and Montero’s relationship, Consuela relives her relationship with her deceased husband. Through this simile, the author has depicted the repetitive nature of time. He has shown that the desires of one generation can be fulfilled through the next generation. Another point in this simile is that how different generations and their fears are similar.
General
The simile of Consuela’s husband has been used for Montero. While reading the journals of the deceased army officer, Montero feels like he is reading his own manuscripts. While showing his love for Aura, he imagines that Llorente is loving his wife Consuela. Although these are the imaginations but through this simile the author has propagated the idea that all human beings pass through the same phases of life. Every young person moves towards old age and the experiences of different generations are similar to some extent.
Bodyless Powder
The metaphor of bodyless powder has been employed for time. Consuelo was so much obsessed with her age and the fleeting nature of time that she asks Montero to stop looking at his watch. She wanted to stay young forever and to be loved by her husband, but her husband died. She transformed her home into an abyss of darkness. There were no lights or electricity and the house gave a view of a haunted place.
Despite of avoiding gazing at clock or cutting herself from her surrounding, she grew older ith every passing moment. When Montero looks at his watch, she utters these words, “You will not look at your watch again, that useless object that falsely measures the time agreed to human vanity, those little hands that tediously mark the long hours invented to deceive the true time, the time that runs with insulting, deadly speed, that no watch can measure. One life, one century, fifty years: it will no longer be possible for you to imagine these lying actions, you will no longer be able to take that bodyless powder in your hands."
