The illuminated altar
The writer presents the imagery of the airfield from above, and particularly above the razor wire irradiated as if it were an altar, albeit the altar of a strange church. The writer notes: “Then an airfield would appear below, the razor wire illuminated like the altar of a strange church.”
Alcock’s smell
Having spent a night on a pile of wrapped meat, Emily later compares Alcock’s smell to that of freshly cut before. The use of the simile thus enhances imagery: “One night he lay down on a pile of wrapped meat … Emily Ehrlich wrote in the Evening Telegram that he still smelled like a freshly cut side of beef.” In this way, the evidently bad smell of raw meat is conceivable through the use of the simile as Alcock's scent at the time.
The airplane’s roar
The pilots are all aware of the likelihood that the roaring effect of the airplane could result in their deafness or the roar could lodge itself in them such that they all carried it around as if they were a stereo system. The writer notes: “They are well aware that they could go deaf on the flight and that the roar could lodge itself inside them forever, their bodies carrying it like human gramophones.” The simile thus facilitates an understanding of the possibility of the pilots carrying the roaring airplane sounds with them while also enhancing imagery.
The slabs of peat
The appearance of the slabs of peat lying on the ground is conceivable through the use of a simile. In particular, the imagery of the peat is emphasized, made explicit, and elucidated through a direct comparison to cake. The writer notes: “… what they don’t notice coming down are the nearby slabs of peat that lie like cake…”
The imagery of the harbor
The narrator presents the appearance of the harbor using a simile in which it is compared to a question mark. The use of the comparison thus facilitates a deeper understanding of the shape of the ship harbor: “The harbor curved like a question mark.”
