Treated like royalty
Deborah describes how a waiter "treats us like royalty because we are on the Upper East Side and are prepared to shell out a hundred bucks for a lunch consisting largely of vegetables." This simile emphasizes the special treatment they are getting at the restaurant.
Fiery flame simile
Deborah describes how when her grandfather gets angry "his long white beard seems to lift up and spread around his face like a fiery flame," emphasizing how frightening and threatening he was.
Like poison to the soul
Deborah's grandfather calls English "an impure language... like a poison to the soul," which suggests that there was an aversion towards the use of English in the religious sect Deborah lived in.
