If the Tree is Rotten (Metaphor)
While talking about how he has been away from his district for a year, Davidson speaks of how he does not trust the native Samoan he left in charge to have kept order. Considering the daunting task of assuming authority over everyone again, Davidson says, "I expect to have my work cut out for me. I shall act and I shall act promptly. If the tree is rotten it shall be cut down and cast into the flames." In this metaphor, Davidson compares the behavior of the locals to a rotten tree that he must uproot and burn. The metaphor is a Biblical reference to Matthew, who says that a bad tree cannot bear good fruit and therefore must be destroyed.
The Missionaries Have Got Their Knife in Her (Metaphor)
After Horn delivers the news to Miss Thompson that Davidson is disallowing her from having any more customers visit, Horn and Dr. Macphail discuss the woman's predicament. Horn says, "There's nowhere she can go, only a native house, and no native'll take her now, not now that the missionaries have got their knife in her." In this statement, Horn uses the metaphor of the missionaries having their "knife" in Miss Thompson to illustrate how the missionaries have latched on to the young woman and will not leave her alone until she accepts her punishment. Because the locals know the missionaries have targeted Miss Thompson, they will not want to associate with her for fear the missionaries will come after them next.
Weaving A Net Around the Woman (Metaphor)
During one of their conversations about Miss Thompson, Horn and Dr. Macphail speculate on what Davidson has planned for the young woman. The narrator comments that, like Horn, Macphail "had an impression that [Davidson] was weaving a net around the woman, carefully, systematically, and suddenly, when everything was ready, would pull the strings tight." In this metaphor, the narrator likens Davidson's covert plan to a net he is steadily weaving around Miss Thompson; when the "net" is complete, all Davidson will have to do is pull the strings to trap her.
