The tiny bird’s droning wings
The imagery of the tiny bird that lands on Fiona’s stomach, specifically, the droning of its wings is brought out through the use of a simile. The narrator notes: “Its wings drone like a motor and I am filled with awe.” Through the use of the simile, the conception of the buzzing of the bird’s wings is enhanced.
The plunking of the pebble
The appearance of the pebble that falls on the narrator’s shoe is made explicit through its direct comparison to a fat and stout drop of rain. While the simile enhances imagery, it also enhances the reader’s understanding of the intensity of the fall. The narrator notes: “A pebble falls, swishing the air in front of my face, plunking on my shoe like a fat drop of rain before settling between my feet.”
The clinging smell
The lasting effect of the smell that oozes around the narrator, Bowen, and Arrin is emphasized through the use of a simile in which it is compared to grease. The imagery made prominent through the employment of the simile facilitates a conception of the lasting and almost-permanent effect of the smell on the narrator. The narrator notes: “A smell oozes around us, clings to my throat like grease.”
Arrin’s heavy breath lingering in the air
The aftermath of Arrin’s breath and specifically its lasting effect is brought out through the use of a simile. The writer while achieving exaggeration as a language use technique also brings out the imagery of Arrin’s breath as it hovers in the air like a fog, albeit a thick one: “Arrin snaps, her heavy breath lingering in the air like a thick fog.”
Bowen’s breath against Fiona
The feel of Bowen’s breath against Fiona’s ice-sweaty skin is made explicit and comprehensible by the reader through the employment of a simile. Specifically, his breath is likened to frost: “[…] he whispers, his breath like frost against my ice sweaty skin.” Bowen’s breath can thus be perceived as quite cold.
