A thief for Mattie’s brains (Metaphor)
Once Rueben Cogburn suggests Mattie drinking alcohol, because he is sure that one teaspoon of whiskey will help get rid of a cold. However, Mattie claims that alcoholic beverages kill a person, because alcohol is “a thief in a mouth that steals somebody’s brain”. When a person drinks alcohol, he or she becomes uncontrollable and forgets about everything. Alcohol takes the human brain hostage and dominates over it.
Like pigs (Simile)
During the dinner in Mrs. Floyd’s house, where Mattie spends the night, there are ten or twelve men. The girl tries to talk with the guests, but all the men are being occupied with their food “like hogs rooting in a bucket”. This comparison shows that the guests are very indifferent to everything, except their food like pigs.
Like chickens (Simile)
When Tom Chaney shoots Mattie’s father, the vagrant traders do not run outside, do not tie Chaney up and do not shoot him on the spot. They are “scattering like poultry”, while Chaney is escaping. It means that people are so cowardly that they do not even try to help catch the killer.
