Gjorg Walking like a Shadow
While Gjorg is walking to the Kulla of Orosh, he comes across the ruins of a house. The narrator explains that the burning of houses is a punishment for "the betrayal of the guest who was under the protection of the bessa" (42). As Gjorg approaches the ruin, Kadare writes that he "walked softly, like a shadow" (43). In this simile, Gjorg is compared to a shadow: that is, the absence of a human. In a sense, he is portrayed as being ghostly. In this way, Kadare foreshadows that Gjorg will soon be killed in the continuation of the blood feuds.
The Justicers
As a means by which to maintain suspense and intrigue, Kadare slowly explains the details of the Kanun throughout the novel. In one section, he describes how Gjorg's family tried to negotiate a "blood settlement"–or an end to the feud–with the Kryeqyqe family (48). When that fails, Gjorg is forced to become a "justicer," or one who avenges the dead in a blood feud. Using a vivid set of metaphors, Kadare describes the justicers as "the flower of a clan, its marrow, and its chief memorial" (50). Here, Kadare highlights how important the justicers are to the maintenance of the Kanun, and by extension the local culture. At the same time, the use of the word "memorial" has a double meaning. While the justicers serve as a living embodiment of the region's culture and history, they are also placed in a position that will likely have them killed. That is to say, they will eventually require another justicer to memorialize them. In this way, Kadare highlights the paradoxically productive and destructive nature of the Kanun.
The Blood Feud as an "Ancient Mill"
In the fourth chapter of the novel, Kadare focuses on the character of Mark Ukacjerra, the Prince's cousin and the "steward of the blood" in charge of maintaining the blood feud (130). Having focused on the experiences of the rural peasants like Gjorg and his family in the first chapters of the novel, this shift to Mark reveals another side to the practice of blood feud. From Gjorg's perspective, the blood feuds have long been a sacred ritual and an essential component of the local culture. In the shift to Mark's perspective, however, Kadare makes it clear that the blood feuds are manipulated by the Prince to gain revenue through the taxes paid after each killing. In fact, Mark is stressed that there has been a decline in annual killings.
To describe Mark's opinion of the blood feuds, Kadare uses the metaphor of "an ancient mill that worked day and night" (146). Through this metaphor, the mystery and the sacredness of the blood feuds is replaced by mechanical imagery. In other words, the blood feuds are presented as nothing more than a business like grinding flour. Here, Kadare suggests that the lore surrounding the blood feuds is merely a means for the Prince and his court to maintain power over their subjects. Crucially, this metaphor highlights Kadare's critical stance towards the blood feuds.
Gjorg as Hamlet
After Bessian and Diana encounter Gjorg for the first time, Bessian wonders aloud, "What are Hamlet's doubts, compared with this Hamlet of our mountains?" (110). Here, Bessian compares Gjorg to the titular protagonist of Shakespeare's play. In the play, Hamlet seeks vengeance against his uncle, Claudius, who killed Hamlet's father in order to become king. Of course, Hamlet's context and situation differs greatly from Gjorg's own. In this way, Bessian's attempts to describe Gjorg's culture through references to art like that of Shakespeare and Beethoven demonstrates his fundamental inability to actually understand this culture. By writing novels about the culture of the High Plateau as an outsider, Bessian essentially uses them for creative fodder. Indeed, while the blood feuds are a tragic part of life for the local culture, Bessian sees it as a beautiful and romanticized tradition akin to the writing of Shakespeare. Nonetheless, his comparison between Gjorg and Hamlet is correct on one count: both characters die by the end of their respective work. Again, Kadare foreshadows Gjorg's impending death.
Diana as a "Butterfly Touched by a Black Locomotive"
By the end of the novel, Diana and Bessian have both changed considerably. While Bessian had once admired the culture and people of the High Plateau, he leaves the region finding their practices violent and barbaric. On the other hand, Diana, who was initially unhappy about spending her honeymoon in the High Plateau region, has grown to love it deeply. In particular, she has become infatuated with Gjorg and mourns the fact that she will never see him again. This causes considerable strife in Diana and Bessian's marriage. As they ride their carriage back to Tirana, Bessian thinks that "like a butterfly touched by a black locomotive, [Diana] had been stricken by the ordeal of the High Plateau, and had been overcome" (208).
Here, Diana is compared to a "butterfly," while the culture of the High Plateau is portrayed the "black locomotive." It is a curious simile, juxtaposing the natural beauty of a butterfly to the inhuman force of the locomotive. As well, the simile utilizes the literary device known as understatement, for a speeding locomotive would do much more than "touch" a butterfly. Through this metaphor, Bessian expresses his belief that the experiences in the High Plateau have destroyed his wife like a locomotive would do to a butterfly. To the reader, however, it is apparent that the demise of their marriage is actually the result of Bessian's attitudes and their fundamental incompatibility. While to Bessian, the High Plateau has destroyed his wife and their marriage, from Diana's perspective, the encounter with Gjorg was profoundly beautiful and transformational.
