“I had never seen hatred naked before, the lines cut deep, the eyes glittering, the teeth suddenly looking like a savage animal’s” (34) (metaphor, with simile)
David is describing the look of the Spider-man when he sees his brother, Joseph Strorm. The naked hatred is a metaphor for the intensity of the look on the face of Spider-man/Gordon Strorm. The hatred is so strong that it changes the man’s face from human to animal.
“The whole seaboard is empty, black and harsh and empty. The land behind looks like a huge desert of charcoal” (60) (simile)
Uncle Axel describes the black coasts using a simile to emphasize how burnt and dead they are: like the color and texture of a charcoal, combined with the vastness of a desert.
“Eyes that seemed to see nothing as they looked toward the house from a face set hard as granite” (73) (simile)
David describes his Aunt Harriet’s face as she leaves the Strorms' house, hardened by the fact that she has been rejected by her sister, on whom she thought she could rely for some sympathy. Before leaving the Strorms' house she realizes that she cannot find any refuge in the world she lives in. Her face now is compared to a rock, as she is resolute in her belief that her baby does not deserve to suffer.
“The mutant...the seed of the Devil within, trying unflaggingly, eternally to come to fruition in order that it might destroy the divine order” (75) (metaphor)
The mutant is equated with the seed of Devil, and the metaphor of the seed is extended to describe how it grows in order to take down humanity. This metaphor reflects the generally held belief in the religion of Waknuk that the Devil is present in the genetic abnormalities that surface.
“Then there was a pain, a demand pulling like a fish-hook embedded in my mind” (80) (simile)
David describes how it feels for him when Petra sends out her first distress call telepathically: he emphasizes that he cannot resist the pull of her call, as if he were a fish being pulled in helplessly, and cannot free himself.
