Figurative Language

Simile: Akeer's laugh

After Akeer gets better with help from the clinic, Nya thinks, "It was like music, the sound of Akeer's laugh" (45). In this joyful simile, Nya expresses how happy she is that her sister is no longer dying. Music is (usually) a joyful and lighthearted thing, and Akeer being able to laugh and sound like music indicates that she is healthy.

Metaphor: Stings and the pain of enduring war

After days of marching, Salva and the rest of the group find a honeycomb in the wilderness. Hungry and desperate, the group throws itself at the comb, eager to eat all the honey they can get their hands on. Every member of the small group is attacked by bees and stung; despite this, they still enjoy the taste of honey. The stings the people endure are painful, but the group decides that they are worth it if they can enjoy the honey. In a similar manner, the people who lived in the country are all affected in some way or another by the war. Thus at some point, metaphorically and literally, they all have to make sacrifices to survive and to ensure the survival of the group. Even though those decisions are painful, they are worth it for the people since it means that they can live another day.