“taking huge exaggerated steps, like a giant striding across continents”- (“The Assault”)
The madman’s steps are uncharacteristic which means that they are not comparable to the treads of an ordinary person. The strides are prime pointers of the madman’s mental complications. If the man were well mentally, he would have taken customary, un-exaggerated strides.
“ I have forgotten myself, as if she has planted a virus in my mind which slowly wiped away my memory, my volition, my entire identity”- (“The Assault”)
The aftermath of the irrational talking is comparable to a virus that obliterates the narrator’s retention. The metaphor of a virus draws attention to the adverse repercussions of paying attention to a compulsive talker for considerable time. The listener’s non-participation in the dialogue adds to the subjugation of her conceptions. Whatever the compulsive talker articulates may not be logical to the withdrawn listener.
“Together they led almost a boy’s life in the cabbies”- (“My Son is a Fanatic”)
Parvez and other taxi drivers, “preferred to work at night...they slept during the day, avoiding their wives.” The metaphor of ‘a boy’s life’ relates to the bachelor-like lifestyle that the taxi drivers engrossed in. Working at night meant that they would not luxuriate with their spouses at night. They used up a material proportion of their time in the cabbies.
“Ali addressed his father fluently, as if Parvez were a rowdy crowd that had to be quelled or convinced”- (“My Son is a Fanatic”)
Ali’s fluency when particularizing the Western Materialists’ aversion for Muslims verifies that he is confident about his allegations. Ali wants to induce his father about the standing of fundamentalism through his flowing explications.
