Mind like pumpkin mush
The novel begins with Aminata rejecting the idea of a correlation between one's stature and mental capabilities. A simile is used in bringing out how people often associate old age (and a bent back) with a clogged mind. The writer notes how people think "that your mind is like pumpkin mush." Comparing a person's mind to pumpkin mush brings out the idea that they can't understand anything or that they are incapable of thinking clearly.
'My ba (mother) was like a river.'
Aminata compares her mother (ba) to a river as she had been with her through her childhood and kept her safe in the night. The use of the simile thus enhances the imagery evoked by the comparison. The narrator notes: "In my early childhood, my ba was like a river, flowing on and on and on with me through the days, and keeping me safe at night."
The length of the wooden pestles
The narrator enhances the imagery of the heavy wooden pestles used to pound millet and, in particular, their long length to the legs of a human. Their smooth nature is also enhanced through a comparison to baby skin. The writer notes: "Nearby, the women pounded millet, using heavy wooden pestles that were long like human legs and smooth like baby skin and hard like stone."
Fa's strength
Aminata says that her father was the strongest man in the whole of the village (Bayo). An emphasis on his strength is through the use of a simile in which he is said to have the ability to pound red iron, sending stars out after the impact. The narrator notes: "Fa was the strongest man in Bayo. He could lift me with one arm and send sparks flying like stars when he pounded red iron with his mallet."
The appearance of the cowrie shell
Aminata presents imagery of a cowrie shell during the time of her abduction. She vividly describes the cowrie presenting its curled lips using a simile. The writer notes: "[The cowrie shell] was white, and hard, with curled lips ridged like tiny teeth, the whole thing as small as my thumbnail."
