The fierce mother
When the Elders try to take the baby away from the mother, the woman is compared to a fierce wild animal to emphasize her aggression and willingness to hurt them: “The mother made a guttural sound, deep in her chest, like an angry bear.”
The appearance of the witch
The witch has a rather round figure. Moreover, due to her old age, the witch’s skin is so wrinkled that the narrator compares her to a toad: “From certain angles, she looked a bit like a large, good-tempered toad.”
The Protectorate
The people of the Protectorate are hopeless by design, as the Elders take measures to ensure that their subordinates do not have any hopes, dreams, or perspectives in life. The general mood of the people is reflected by the weather: “The Protectorate itself was a dismal place—bad air, bad water, sorrow settling over the roofs of its houses like a cloud. She felt a yoke of sadness settle onto her own bones.”
Time flies
The witch acknowledges what any other parent can also testify: babies grow up incredibly fast, so the limited time that is their childhood must be cherished and maximized. In order to illustrate how fast time flies, the witch compares it to the bird with the fastest wing beat: “Human babies are only tiny for an instant—their growing up is as swift as the beat of a hummingbird’s wing.”
The baby's magical powers
Comparing the baby to a sleeping volcano illustrates the dangerous and possibly lethal power of the child. The witch knows that the girl is developing magical powers at an unprecedented rate but she is unable to accurately assess her powers, which slightly unsettles her: “The baby, full to bursting with magic, was a bit like a sleeping volcano—internal energy and heat and power can build over time, and erupt without warning.”
