Dry Biscuit of a Man (metaphor)
In the opening pages of the novel, young Hurtle describes the local rector as "a regular dry biscuit of a man" (8). Not a terribly significant detail in a 600-page novel, but a perfect example of White's winning, prickly voice; rather than compare some element of the rector to some element of a dry biscuit, there is a whole transference of Mr. Olliphant onto the image of the biscuit, which communicates Hurtle's immediate dislike of his teacher in a surprising way.
Nerve-ends Like Hair (simile)
After Hurtle, Mrs. Courtney, and Rhoda see the vivisected dog in the window on their holiday, and Maman becomes very upset, Hurtle describes the sensation he experiences as: "so shocked he felt his nerve-ends must be waving inside him like hair" (129). Hurtle is a teenager now, and a very bright one whom his family likes to say is a genius; there is something endearing about him comparing his nerves to strands of hair, reverting to a childlike reference in this moment of honest shock.
Nance Lightfood as a Fish (metaphor)
In a scene where Duffield recounts his erotic relationship with Nance, he thinks: "He knew every possible movement of her ribs, every reflection of her skin. He had torn the hook out of her gills; he had disemboweled her while still alive; he had watched her no less cruel dissection by the knives of light" (242). That he cannot simply talk about her body in physical terms – or emotional ones, for that matter – but must instead rely on the gory imagery of catching and slaughtering a fish, underscores even in these few sentences how Duffield thinks about the women he has relationships with: they are more animal than human, they are something he has caught, they are something he is going to eviscerate.
Duffield's Relationship with Hero (simile)
White writes: "The possibility of [Duffield] enjoying an innocent relationship with Hero was slipping from him as miserably as the miscarried child. At least he now understood about this from having personally experienced it: he felt wet about the legs" (342). This is, foremost, a striking simile for its gruesomeness – to compare the changing expectations of a relationship to the loss of a child. It is also a strange, unexpected metaphorical leap, as Duffield is comparing his experience with Hero to miscarriage, which is something he is biologically unable to experience. The figurative language is therefore a projection: he can only surmise that this is an accurate comparison. In a satisfying rhetorical flourish, White takes it one step further, ending on the shared experience of dampness on legs. Of course this, too, is a mismatch, and a misogynistic one at that.
Lovers as Cats (metaphor)
After Cosma drowns a bag of cats, Duffield begs Hero to tell him how many cats he killed. He then soothes himself, thinking: "He didn't worry; two lovers could add up to an infinity of cats" (353). To say that two lovers could equal an infinite number of cats puts immense privilege on human life over animal life; this speaks directly to the cruelty that Maman so feared in her children. But there is also beauty to this metaphor, in the notion that two lovers can contain so much life between them.
