Sam Taylor/Mr. Ryder (Simile)
When telling of his experience as Sam Taylor (though the audience does not yet know that it is he), he explains how he made a new life for himself and had “grown to be as different from the ignorant boy who ran away from the fear of slavery as the day is from the night.” This classic example of difference allows the reader to see how different Mr. Ryder sees himself as now; he is not Sam Taylor, he is a well-respected pillar of his community and it would be a massive sacrifice to look back to the past.
Blue Veins (Metaphor)
The narrator describes the criticism levied on the Society from outsiders that rapidly vanishes if they get into the group: “they had been heard to maintain with zeal and earnestness that the society was a life-boat, an anchor, a bulwark and a shield,—a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, to guide their people through the social wilderness.” There are numerous metaphors here that associate the Society with something that is life-saving, sustaining, and worth following. These are grandiose terms as well, which suggests just how enviable a spot in the Society was.
Mixed-Race Blacks (Metaphor)
Mr. Ryder is known to explain that “we people of mixed blood are ground between the upper and the nether millstone.” This metaphor is his way of suggesting that mixed-race people do not fit into either the white community or black community, and are instead faced with the pressures of being between the two of them. The image of them being “ground” suggests that it is a difficult situation, but it is more of a martyrdom situation because Mr. Ryder and the Blue Veins do not want to be embraced by the dark-skinned blacks because “it would be for us a backward step.”
