Pinched as If It Were a Raindrop (Simile)
In one of Michael's memories of a childhood spent looking up to Francis, he recalls a time when Francis makes orange juice concentrate for their mother on a hot day when she collapses from exhaustion and heat. After delivering the juice to her, Ruth pinches her son's earlobe "lightly between her thumb and finger as if it were a raindrop from a leaf." In this simile, Chariandy emphasizes the delicacy of the gesture by comparing Francis's earlobe to a raindrop hanging from a leaf.
Scar of Green (Metaphor)
Although the Park is a low-income and generally rundown neighborhood in Scarborough, Michael and his family feel an affinity with a stretch of parkway that runs through the area. Michael describes the Rouge Valley as "a scar of green running through our neighborhood." In this metaphor, Michael nods at the Rouge's geological history as an icy, glacial valley carved out of the earth by referring to it as a scar.
Francis Had Been a Zombie (Metaphor)
One night during the summer, Francis and Michael are out in their neighborhood when gunfire suddenly erupts and they see a local boy named Anton get shot and killed. The incident traumatizes Francis, and Michael comments that "since witnessing Anton get shot, Francis had been a zombie, his eyes glazed and evasive." In this metaphor, Michael calls his brother a zombie to highlight how Francis's behavior changes after the shooting. No longer animated and alive, Francis acts more like a dead man brought back to life with limited faculties.
Cases of Cola Piss Out Their Stickiness (Metaphor)
Toward the end of one of Michael's shifts stocking shelves at the local supermarket, "a stacked skid topples and a couple dozen cases of cola piss out their stickiness when they hit the floor." In this metaphor, Michael personifies the containers of carbonated cola and their sticky soda contents. Rather than simply say the cola bursts, Michael uses the vulgar metaphor of "piss" to capture his resentment at having to clean up the mess the cola creates.
Carrying On Like the Sort of Thug You Only Hear About (Simile)
In the summer Anton is shot, the heat in Scarborough becomes unbearable for locals. Michael says that "an enveloping heat arrived, a physical oppression from which none could escape. Nature carrying on like the sort of thug you only hear about." In this simile, Michael compares the heat to a menacing "thug," emphasizing the heat's brutality and relentlessness, which Michael perceives as targeted and intentional rather than merely indifferent.
