Battlefield medic (Simile)
The author depicts Elizabeth as bold and compares her courage to a battlefield medic. The author writes, "She looked down at him like a battlefield medic assessing whether or not he was worth saving." When Walter summons Elizabeth to his office and tries to rape her, she looks at him fiercely. The simile is significant because it shows how Elizabeth stands for her rights. Unlike other women, Elizabeth does not tolerate male violence and sexual abuse.
A child (Simile)
Elizabeth describes her boyfriend to show his messiness, and she compares him to a child. Elizabeth says, "But the bigger issue was his face. He had a lonesome look about him, like a child who had to raise himself, with large grey eyes, messy blondish hair, and publish lips, the latter of which was nearly always swollen because he tended to chew on them." The simile is significant because it shows how Calvin is bad-mannered. Calvin grew up as an orphan and had no role model to look after for guidance.
A crane and rag dog (Simile)
The author shows male violence against women using the simile of a crane and a rag dog. The simile talks about a man battering a woman in his office because she has refused his sexual advances. The narrator says, "He bent down to where she lay on the floor and, grabbing her by the hips, hoisted like a crane lifting a sloppy load of lumber, blacking her back down on the stool like a rag doll." The simile shows how the patriarchal society mistreats women and abuses them sexually.
