The simile of the American Imagination
The narrator explains Americans have been accustomed to listening while the Europeans talk. However, the Americans have not developed the culture of talking when the Europeans are listening. The narrator argues that this must not be the case because he believes that it should be the other way round. America is a sacred land, which should speak while other nations listen. He compares other countries to America and fails to understand why the people of his sacred land have not developed the culture of speaking for others to listen. He writes:
“Particularly must this be the case on a soil as sacred to the American imagination as that of Edinburgh.”
The Simile of the modern writers
The narrator has used a simile to compare the modern writers to the religious classics. He argues that the most skillful religious men are the only ones who can give credit answers concerning spiritual questions. The reader can conclude that religion is a complex subject, which can appropriately be interpreted by the experts in religion also known as religious classics. He writes:
"These men, of course, are either comparatively modern writers, or else such earlier ones as having become religious classics."
The Simile of Experiences
Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist religious experiences and norms are installed in people. The narrator believes that the current religious die-hard is following beliefs made for him by others. Alternatively, he is following the traditions and norms outlined in religious books written many years ago by others. Man has become addicted to religion he does not a clue of its intentions and conception. The current religious conduct is an imitation of the pattern-setters. The author says for many congregations exist as a dull habit, but not as an acute fever. The narrator writes:
“His religion has been made by him by others, communicated to him by tradition, determined to fixed forms by imitation, and retained by habit. It will benefit us little to study this-second hand religious life. We must make such rather for the original experiences which were the pattern-setters to all this mass of suggested feeling and imitated conduct. These experiences we can only find in individuals for whom religion exists not as a dull habit, but as an acute fever rather”
The Simile of the Word of the Lord
According to Fox, God is the supreme power who directs and guides him. He says that as he walks with his friends, he is struck by the word of God which commands him to walk to Litchfield. At Litchfield, he finds shepherd and the Lord commands him to remove his shoes. At first, he finds it difficult to obey because it is in winter but the word of the Lord is like fire and he obeys. The narrator writes:
“Then was I commanded by the Lord to pull off my shoes. I stood still, for it was winter: but the word of the Lord was like a fire in me. “
The Simile of the Pool of Blood
The Lord commands Fox to go to the streets of Litchfield and warn them of his Anger by shouting ‘Wo to the bloody City of Litchfield!’ As he shouts, most people seem not to be interested though it being on a market day. In his spiritual mind, he sees the market looking like a pool of blood. The narrator writes:
“As I went thus crying through the streets, there seemed to me to be a channel of blood running down the streets, and the market-place appeared like a pool of blood. “
