Simile: Slave labor (Breast-Giver)
Haldar's son is immature and capricious, and Devi writes, "Those sudden whims reared up in the loneliness of the afternoon and kept him at slave labor like the khalifa of Bagdad." The khalifa was said to keep a djinn who would do his bidding; hence, the whims of the son keep a hold over him that is not easily broken, as with the ruler forcing the djinn to do what he wanted.
Metaphor: Bodkin (Breast-Giver)
Devi writes, "A European witch's bodkin pricks the colored balloon of Kangali and Jashoda's dreams and the pair falls in deep trouble," after Haldar dies. In this metaphor a witch uses a needle to burst a balloon, which shows how the couple's fate changes. Devi specifically uses a ghoulish figure to suggest just how problematic this situation is.
Simile: Bubbles (Breast-Giver)
Jashoda, once beloved by the Haldar household for suckling all of the children, is abandoned once she is no longer needed; furthermore, she develops cancer which renders her even more useless. Devi writes, "Somewhere in the minds of the second son and his mother an unknown sense of guilt and remorse came up like bubbles in dirty and stagnant water." This simile suggests that even though the son and mother have these feelings of guilt and remorse, the thoughts are not very substantial because they are like "bubbles," and the mother and son are still cruel and uncaring since the water is "dirty" and "stagnant."
Metaphor: Operation (Draupadi)
"Thus the search for Dopdi continues. In the forest belt of Jharkhani, the Operation continues—will continue. It is a carbuncle on the government's backside. Not to be cured by the tested ointment, not to burst with the appropriate herb." In this grotesque metaphor Devi shows how the tribal rebels are obnoxious because they are not easily gotten rid of even through the customary means of doing so.
Simile: Malindar (Bayen)
Malindar decides to condemn his wife as a bayen along with the rest of the Doms, and Devi writes that he "let out a yell like a beast." This is an important simile because it first establishes that Malindar has aggressively turned against his wife and second because it is ironic that he sounds like a wild animal when his wife is the one being condemned as inhuman. Malindar is crazed and cruel but patriarchy supports him; Chandi is sensitive and innocent and is easily condemned.
