The slithering of the wind through the narrator’s sleeves “like a snake”
As the narrator pedals on his way to Rutterburg, Vermont, a simile is used to bring out the behavior of the wind. In particular, the slithering of the wind up his sleeves is compared to the slithering of a snake and as such facilitates imagery.
His eyes like raw onions
The writer uses a simile in the comparison of the eyes to raw onions. In this way, the imagery of their watery nature is brought out perhaps as a result of crying: “He was in bed and the sheets were twisted around him and his body was hot, his eyes like raw onions, head aching.”
Her perfume like lilac in the spring
Through an association of the smell of the perfume to lilac in the spring, the nice smell of the perfume can be comprehended being perceived as fruity and floral, a symbol of renewal. The writer notes: “The tenderness in her voice and her perfume like lilac in the spring.”
The hissing of the doors “like a snake”
A simile is used in the direct comparison of the hissing of the door during its opening to the hissing of a snake. In this way, the reader is able to develop an image of the same in their subconscious. The writer notes: “The doors hissed like a snake when they opened.”
The scattering of the narrator’s voice “like smoke”
The imagery of the narrator’s scattering voice is directly compared to the disappearance of smoke within the air. The reader is able to develop a deeper understanding of how the narrator’s voice dissipated in the air in the same way smoke does: “The wind takes my voice and scatters it in the air and it disappears like smoke.”
