The buzzing of the inorganic throats
The profound conception of ideas is often facilitated by direct comparisons to other events or activities that evoke familiarity and enhance the imagery. The writer compares the buzz of inorganic throats to stag beetles, a comparison that heightens the imagery.
“…the inorganic throats that once had flamed, steamed, and hissed, and might again that very night? Or maybe they would buzz like stag beetles or chirr like cicadas amid those skeletal incarnations of pure…”
“Jerk like sinister marionettes.”
To enhance emphasis on the behavior of the inorganic throats, the writer compares how they would jerk to that of puppets. This comparison thus enhances a deeper understanding of their behavior.
“Or they would jerk like sinister marionettes, making drums turn, converting frequencies, transforming energies, spinning flywheels.”
The imagery of the glass globules
The direct comparison of the arranged glass globules to quatrefoil petals enhances the reader’s comprehension of their imagery. The comparison, therefore, fosters a deepened understanding of their appearance:
“…and the glass globules arrayed like quatrefoil petals, with other quatrefoils connected by golden tubes, and quatrefoils attached to other, crystal, tubes leading first to a copper cylinder…”
The dissolving letters
“The letters bubble indolently to the surface; they emerge from nothingness and obediently return to nothingness, dissolving like ectoplasm.”
The narrator’s use of comparative language likening the dissolving letters to ectoplasm facilitates the reader’s understanding of how quickly the letters disappeared into nothingness to become apparent, an image enhanced by the comparison to ectoplasm.
The Jewish usurer
The Templar slips money over to the Jewish usurer in his attempts to pass without being noticed. The perception of the Jewish usurer as an opportunist is enhanced by comparing to a vulture, which also alludes to his predatory traits:
“In an attempt to pass unnoticed, he slips some of the Temple’s money to the Jewish usurer, who is waiting like a vulture on its perch...”
