A slice
The metaphor of a slice has been used for the places which leave an impression on our minds. The narrator says, “The places we have known do not belong solely to the world of space in which we situate them for our greater convenience. They were only a thin slice among contiguous impressions which formed our life at that time; the memory of a certain image is but regret for a certain moment; and houses, roads, avenues are as fleeting, alas, as the years.” The gust of memories overpowered Marcel in the later years of his life and it was soothing as well as tormenting for him because he was unable to relive those moments. He understands the fleeting nature of everything whether its time or places so, he realizes that the memories of places are not the sole asset of out lives instead they are only little chunks which remind us of the regretful moments.
Painting
The simile of painting has been used for Odette. Swann compares her with a picture painted by Botticelli, and it strengthens his feeling for the woman. Although she did not appear attractive to him when he saw her for the first time but he became obsessed with her beauty gradually. He started searching for her in the streets when he could not find her in the salon. At the Verdurin’s he stares at her for hours and despite of Marcel’s family’s disapproval, he married her. Odette was an unfaithful woman who had many affairs before her marriage, and she did not give up the relationships after marrying Swann. She was involved physically with Forcheville and one-night Swann catches them by opening the wrong window. An anonymous letter further confirms her relationship with other men. Odette was not ashamed of her activities, and still she remained indifferent to Swann’s feelings like a painting.
Pages
Human life has been compared with a page when the narrator says that a person’s life story cannot be turned like a page, because we are not like pages in an accounts book which are perceived by everyone in a same way. He says, “Even in the most insignificant details of our daily life, none of us can be said to constitute a material whole, which is identical for everyone, and need only be turned up like a page in an account-book or the record of a will; our social personality is created by the thoughts of other people.” Humans are impacted by their surroundings and the people around them. Every person holds a different perception regarding the other person so our lives are not that much simpler.
Clock
The simile of a clock has been employed by the writer for the mind. Marcel aspired to become a writer and he was so much impressed by different writers. His friends motivate him to write something and they introduced him to the works of Bergotte, but when he thought of writing, his mind stopped working like a clock. He says, “These dreams reminded me that, since I wished someday to become a writer, it was high time to decide what sort of books I was going to write. But as soon as I asked myself the question, and tried to discover some subject to which I could impart a philosophical significance of infinite value, my mind would stop like a clock, my consciousness would be faced with a blank, I would feel either that I was wholly devoid of talent or perhaps that some malady of the brain was hindering its development.” Marcel was unable to write anything at first owing to writer’s bloc, or he felt like he did not possess the talent of writing, but this work is an epitome of his genius as a writer.
