Sarcasm like a touch of metal (Simile)
Nellie, the narrator of the story, has noticed that Myra Henshawe is a sarcastic woman: “Her sarcasm was so quick, so fine at the point – it was like being touched by a metal so cold that one doesn’t know whether one is burned or chilled.” She was nice and cruel at the same time and this feature of her both fascinated and scared the young lady.
Magic place (Simile)
In Madison Square Garden, one of the favorites places of the narrator was a magnificent fountain. It symbolized the heart of the place for the young lady and its rhythmical splash was like a voice of the garden, it’s soul – mythical and magical. “It rose and fell like something taking deep, happy breaths; and the sound was musical, seemed to come from the throat of spring.”
In disguise (Metaphor)
Myra has two group of friends – artistic people she liked, and those “moneyed” which were on Oswald’s account. But the rich and powerful irritated her, she always played the role while being with them. She smiled and was nice as usual, but there was the only one distinctive feature that showed her real feeling about those people: “a biting edge of her sarcasm, a curl about the corners of her mouth”. This curl was never there when she was with people she really liked.
The drama in mind (Metaphor)
Having seen the person who used to be her friend in the theatre, Myra gets upset; she is not interested in the scene on the stage anymore. The only thing she cares about is “the drama in her mind – painful memories about the person who used to mean a lot for her”. Those unlucky events that were connected with that person are alive again, and there is nothing worse than go through all of it again.
Dawn – a forgiving time (Metaphor)
Mrs. Henshawe enjoys their walks with Nellie; she likes light and silence when the sun drops over. She says that she likes to watch the Pacific at down, since it is a forgiving time for the old woman: “When that first cold, bright streak comes over the water, it’s as if all your sins were pardoned; as if the sky leaned over the earth and kissed it and gave it absolution”. Myra did a lot of things that she regrets, and only this picturesque vision of a dawn gives her the hope that all her sins may be forgiven one time.
