Simile as Character Revelation
The end of the opening chapter ends with a simplistic simile that used to show the simple world view of Sarah as a child. Her immature grasp of what it means to be brave is subtly implied in the lack of depth and sophistication of the language used to describe her desire for her mother to show courage:
“She wanted her mother to stand up straight and look at the men boldly, to stop cowering, to prevent her heart from beating like that, like a frightened animal’s. She wanted her mother to be brave.”
The Significance of the Key
Late in the book, Sarah reveals the full significance of the key in a passage she writes in her journal. It is through metaphor that this significance is divulged:
“I cannot bear the weight of my past. Yet I cannot throw away the key to your cupboard. It is the only concrete thing that links me to you, apart from your grave.”
Logic or Poetry?
A simile is often constructed from a series of imagery built upon imagery. Generally, this construction is logical and progressive, but occasionally it seems to veer off path with the result becoming poetic and even beautiful, but less than coherent logically. Consider the progression of this simile and determine whether is mere poetry or a present a coherent logic to its imagery:
“His present was a mystery. But his past, his mother’s past, had been etched out to me like fiery torches along a dark path.”
“A rotten stench hit her like a fist.”
At the moment that she uses the key to open the secret door, only metaphorical language is deemed appropriate to the reaction. The author pulls back from being graphic, allowing the reader to use everything they know about horrific odors to do the work for her.
Dust Imagery
The text is replete with imagery of dust. It also thick and white, stinging the eyes, parching the throat and smelling of must. The centerpiece of this imagery as a metaphor is situated on Julia’s ruminations of what became of Sarah as the literal and figurative connotations of dust collide:
“She had never come back from Auschwitz. She was a handful of dust.”
