The simile of Magician’s Incantations
The narrator talks about the magic of technology in the 21st century. He is addressing the class of 2011, where he is the guest speaker. He reflects on his life experiences with modern gadgets such as iPhones and his new Black-Berry Pearl during his speech. He states that the latest trendy gadgets are considered sexy. For instance, he compares the newest iPhone to a magician's incantations. He says, Let ,me further point out how ubiquitously the word ‘sexy’ is used to describe late-model gadgets; and how the extremely cool things that we can do now with these gadgets-like impelling them to action by speaking incantations, or doing that spreading-the-fingers iPhone thing that make images get bigger-would have looked, looked to people hundred years ago, like a magician’s incantations……”
The Simile of Graphical Lozenge
After working tirelessly to promote a novel, the author decided to take a break and visit Masafuera, where he could have a fresh start. The author compares working on his schedule to the graphical lozenge when he says, “I’d been promoting a novel nonstop for four months, advancing through my schedule without violation, feeling more and more like graphical lozenge on a media player’s progress bar.”
The Simile of Selkirk
According to the locals, the island of Alejandro Selkirk is named after Masafuera, which means farther away. After the author reads about Masafuera, he compares himself to Selkirk because he has the urge to go to a farther place to refresh himself from his busy schedule that he has been working on lately to promote his novel. He says, "At a certain point, having read about Masafuera, I began to imagine running away and being alone there, like Selkirk, in the interior of the island, where nobody lives even seasonally.”
The Simile of the Stainless Steel
The narrator compares his orgy consumerism at REI to the stainless-steel martini glass when he says, “Then I indulged in a little orgy of consumerism at REI, where the Crusoivian romance abides romance abides in the aisles of ultralightweight survival gear and, especially perhaps, in certain emblems of civilization-in-wilderness, like the stainless-steel martini glass with a detachable stem.”
The simile of steep hills and gentle slopes
The narrator recalls his arrival to Masafuera, after a long boat trip to the island. However, he was surprised by the fact that he had initially misinterpreted the google map in which he had made a wrong comparison of the hills and slopes. He says, “What had looked like steep hills were cliffs and what had looked like gentle slopes were steep hills.”
