A hood (simile)
After Cassandra gets home from the beach, she is confused and does not know how to break the sad news to her parents. She enters her bathroom and locks the door. However, her head swings, and she compares it to the black static. Cassandra says, "A head rush fell over me like a hood made of black static." Breaking the bad news is the heaviest burden that Cassandra has to bear; however, it is not an easy task.
The metaphor of No Man’s Land
No Man's Land" is a metaphor that shows class division in the community. The path leading to the beach from Cassandra's home divides the fancy neighborhood from the average homesteads from the other end. Cassandra and her brother hail from a fancy neighborhood because their parents are rich.
A junk of bones (simile)
Cassandra compares Wayne's knuckles to a junk of bones. Cassandra says, "The wind whipped. I clutched his knuckles like a junk of bones on the one hand and pushed the water away with the other. We rocked, his knees bumping my back, his head knocking my shoulder in that unreasonable way." The simile shows the last moments before Wayne drowns. The simile also shows the struggle of Cassandra to save her brother but in vain.
