A Hungry Goat (Simile)
The narrator describes his expression upon thinking about a tree as a "rapturous look like a hungry goat being shown a nice juicy bunch of grass" (p. 1). Goats spend most of their day eating grass, so this simile illustrates just how intense the narrator's joy at trees really is. One can easily imagine the narrator thinking about trees like a goat salivating over grass. The image of the goat helps to emphasize the tragedy of the Nazis taking trees away from the Jews in the ghetto.
Open Book (Simile)
The narrator describes how "Kowalski raises his face toward Jacob, that fox’s face that is like an open book" (p. 30).
That Kowalski is unable to conceal his thoughts makes him seem trustworthy to the reader. At the same time, he is a "fox" who acts secretively and comes up with clever schemes. This combination of traits endears Kowalski to the reader, who understands Kowalski's tricks at once.
Little Monster (Metaphor)
Rosenek, who runs the food shop, is described as having a stomach like a "little monster," which he attempts to hide under overalls (p. 194). This metaphor does more than just illustrate the size of Rosenek's stomach. Its negative connotation—"monster"—suggests that there is something dishonest about how it got so large. And, indeed, Rosenek does seem to give out less food than he rightly should, apparently feeding the rest to the "monster" that is his gut. Of course, this is a relatively minor offense in the ghetto (it is a "little" monster, after all), but the metaphor nonetheless emphasizes one method—cheating—that people use to survive while being persecuted.
Sleepwalker (Simile)
After Nuriel, Lina's father, is caught not wearing his yellow stars, he and his wife are arrested and sent to the camps. While the two are packing, Lina is playing outside, undetected by the German soldiers. The narrator describes Nuriel as such: "Nuriel moved like a sleepwalker until his wife nudged him and told him to hurry up" (p. 61) This simile compares Nuriel's sense of helplessness in the face of an inevitable event to the physical and emotional state of the sleepwalker. It conveys the feeling of Nuriel being in shock and unable to fully comprehend his new situation, a result of the sudden and drastic change. Overall, the sleepwalker simile captures Nuriel's sense of confusion, dread, and disbelief.
Behaving Like Kids (Simile)
After the news spreads about Jacob's radio, people at the freight yard clamor to ask Jacob for news from his radio. They are, says the narrator, "behaving like kids, like people eagerly clustering around a bulletin board" (p. 55)
This simile compares the people badgering Jacob to children or people trying to see a bulletin board. It implies that the people are acting exuberantly and childishly, as they all want to be close to Jacob and take advantage of his radio. This also suggests that the people are acting without regard for discretion. We begin to understand how this might make Jacob feel—frustrated, annoyed, and worried about his safety. The simile therefore sets the reader up to empathize with Jacob as he becomes more and more tied up in lies over the course of the novel.
