Power like a mountain
When Thập is presented in the story ‘’Open Arms’’, he is described as a strong and influential person, who even though stood between two high ranking officials, gave up an air of importance more powerful than the other two men. His power is compared with the shadow a mountain may cast in the dark. A person does not need to see the shadow to know that the mountain is there and in the same way the people around Thập did not had to know him to understand he was someone powerful.
Like a body left in the open fields
The story ‘’Mr. Green’’ begins with the narrator mentioning a parrot that lived in the house and the way her family used to pray for the souls of their dead relatives. When the narrator asked why they were doing such a thing, the grandfather told her that praying for the souls of the dead helped them in the afterlife and gave them a meaning. If no one was praying for them, the souls became lost and disgraced. The state of the souls for which no one prays is compared with a body left to rot in the field and to be eaten by wild animals. This shows just how important it was for many to worship their ancestors.
As if my arm was under water
After Kánh’s wife realizes that her grandfather does not recognize her in the story ‘’The Trip Back’’, she starts crying beside her husband. The wife is clearly distraught but when Kánh tries to console her he compares his arm with that of a person submerged under water, transmitting thus the idea that he is unable to lift it. Through this comparison, the narrator also transmits the idea that he does not feel qualified enough to console his wife who is hurting and who needs him.
Metaphor for the Vietnamese people
In the story ‘’Fairy Tale’’, the narrator mentions how her boyfriend tried to talk in Vietnamese once and how he did not manages to articulate the sentence he was trying to say and instead talked about a sunburnt duck. The narrator continues to think about the meaning of this sentence and reaches the conclusion that it refers to the Vietnamese people. The duck is used as a metaphor for the Vietnamese people and the fact that they are sunburnt, not burnt, shows that while they remained damaged after the war, they were not completely destroyed by it.
Rocks
The story ‘’Crickets’’ starts with the narrator Ted remembering the time when Saigon was taken by the communist Vietnam. To avoid being killed, Ted discarded his uniform and fought against the soldiers by throwing rocks at the tanks coming into the city. Ted admits that his action was worthless because he was unable to do anything to stop them. Despite this, he still felt the need to do something to stop them. The rocks are used here as a metaphor for the efforts of the soldiers who fought for the South Vietnam. In many ways their efforts had no effect but they still continued. Thus, the rocks are used to suggest the efforts made by the soldiers to stop the degradation of their country.
