Fear
“She put her fear away, or rather, she regarded it as a delusion.”
This is an example of a metaphor in which an emotion becomes something tangible; like an object that causes discomfort, it can be hidden from view. Then the author decides to put fear back into the realm of the intangible which succeeds in showing monstrously powerful it can be.
Simile Plus Metaphor
“She trembled beneath the cold gray gaze, penetrating and clear as a beam of light reflected from a wall of ice.”
Here is an example of figurative language in which a simile (comparison using “as” is extended through the use of a metaphor “wall of ice.” Since there is no literal of wall of ice and since it is not a comparison made using “as” or “like” it can only be a metaphorical image.
Simile Using "Like"
“her thought returned like a tired dove to this moment of peace”
The central figurative image here is the “tired dove” which is compared to Bertrand’s thoughts using “like.” The most important aspect of this image is that the dove is “tired” which must be connected to the status of Bertrand’s thinking, indicating that by this point she is become fatigued from the worry of and wonder about her husband.
Literal and Metaphorical Connection
Some time later, the author returns to the dove metaphor when Bertrande is literally holding a dying dove in her hands. As it slowly struggles, blood draining away, Bertrande finds a connection between herself and the bird, “feeling her own strength drop slowly away like the blood of the dove.”
Metaphor Using Direct Comparison
“I see now that Fortune is a woman; she prefers a young king to an old emperor.”
Here is an example of a classic simple metaphor in which two things are compared directly using the word “is.” An old king is bemoaning his ill health and engages metaphor to describe his luck with the assertion “fortune is a woman.” He then expands upon his metaphor to identify why he believes this way.
