The simile of Rathbun
Rathbun is determined to give his lecture about the meaning of life. Sandra is among his students, and she is inspired by his achievements confidence to guide learners. During his lecture about the importance of life, Rathbun compares his speech delivery to a diploma. Rathbun says, “My lecture that day was spontaneous. It was an opportunity. I could not help myself. I had to tell those kids that the meaning of life was up to them, that no teacher and no school and nobody else could hand it to them like a diplomat.”
The simile of entitlement
Sandra is the only child for the first eight years for her parents. To a more considerable extent, Sandra felt entitled, and this feeling increased her level of confidence. When Sandra recalls her childhood, she compares herself to a son entitled to any other white man. The author writes, "As an only child for eight years and treated like a son; she had also internalized a sense of entitlement normally associated with straight white men."
Cherishing daughters as much as sons
Ruth's mother dreamed of a society in which girls are cherished as boys. This comparison is vital in helping the reader to understand the extent of gender inequality in the early decades. Ruth says, "I pray that I may be all that she would have been having she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve, and daughters are cherished as much as sons."
Girls in the postwar prosperity
Ginsburg's mother compares her daughter, Ruth Bader, to many other postwar prosperity girls who went to college to further their studies. The author writes, "The strongest and bravest person Ginsburg knew had gone to work at the age of fifteen to send her brother to school. But like millions of girls in the post-war prosperity, her daughter, Ruth, went to college herself."
The simile of Justice O’Connor’s opinions
The decisions made by Justice O’Connor are equated to the American public opinion. The author writes, "Like the American public's opinion on contentious issues, Justice O'Connor's decisions were mostly patchworking that seldom set down any principles to guide future decision making."
