“…like a giant.”
Tananarive’s mother is a strong woman. Even though she had been taller than her mother at a very early stage in her life, Tananarive is convinced, like all other children, of her mother’s greatness as civil rights activist. She uses a simile to compare her mother to a giant. “She might be short physically, but she seemed like a giant.”
The inhumanity of the Nazis
“To the Nazis, you weren’t human. To the Nazis, you were an animal, so they put a tattoo on you to identify you, like an animal.”
The ill-treatment of the people by the Nazis necessitates the use of this simile in which their inhumane nature is emphasized. Comparing the Nazis to animals enhances the reader’s comprehension of their lack of appreciation for human life.
The shelters
The appearance of the shelters where the writers of this work dwell is enhanced via a simile in which they are compared to barracks. Tananarive notes: “Ours was a community of migrant workers and struggling people who lived in tin shelters that looked like barracks.”
Doubt and nervousness
A simile is used in the expression of how doubt as well as nervousness passed across Daddy Marion’s face as if it were a shadow. This comparison, therefore, enhances the reader’s conception of the appearance of Daddy Marion’s face. “I could see the doubt and nervousness pass across his face like a shadow.”
The contact lenses
The uncomfortable nature associated with wearing contact lenses is emphasized through the writers’ employment of a simile to directly compare them to the sting of salt water in one’s eyes. “The hard contact lenses I was wearing for the occasion were stinging like saltwater in my eyes.”
