The hitting of the flecks of grass
In chapter one, the narrator describes one of her visits to the coulee with her uncle. There she vividly describes the hill surface and the breeze using similes. First, the narrator compares the rhythmical movement of the grass shadows to ocean waves and the flecks of grass hitting them to spray. The use of these similes in the description enhances imagery: "The hill surface, as if responding to a command from Uncle's outstretched hand, undulates suddenly in a breeze, with ripple after ripple of grass shadows, rhythmical as ocean waves. We wade through the dry surf, the flecks of grass hitting us like spray."
Deep brown furrows
In order to convey an image of Uncle in the story, the narrator describes him perfectly carefully choosing vocabulary to facilitate the same. The narrator compares the deep brown furrows creasing Uncle's cheeks to dry riverbeds. This simile is useful in conveying exaggeration as a style that the narrator uses to appeal to the reader's senses: "He has the same prairie-baked skin, the deep brown furrows like dry riverbeds creasing his cheeks."
The hiding of speech
On the coulee when Megumi asks her Uncle why they visit the place every year, her Uncle is lost for words and the narrator in order to present the dumbfoundedness uses a simile in which she likens Uncle's loss of words to the hiding of an animal from a storm. The use of this simile particularly portrays the intensity of the lack of speech: "From both Obasan and Uncle I have learned that speech often hides like an animal in a storm."
The shaking of Sigmund's hand
After Sigmund, one of the students in Naomi's class raises his hand up during a class session, the narrator uses a simile to compare the frantic shaking of his hand to that of a leaf in the wind. This particular language use facilitates imagery which enhances the appeal of the story: "Sigmund never puts his hand up calmly but shakes it frantically like a leaf in the wind."
The sensations after the news about Megumi's Uncle
After receiving the bad news about his uncle, the narrator compares the sensations that follow to an electric jolt. This simile facilitates the portrayal of the intensity of the sensations to the reader: "There is an odd sensation like an electrical jolt but not so sharp—a dull twitch simultaneously in the back of my head and in my abdomen."
