"As quick as lighting" (simile)
Sara believes, or at least fantasizes, that her doll Emily can freely move around like a person in her absence. She longs to catch Emily doing so, but explains that "the problem was that Emily, just like any other doll, was as quick as lightning.” Lonely after parting from her father, Sara treats Emily as if she is a living thing. In order to maintain the fantasy that Emily can think and act as humans can, she imagines, and explains to others, that Emily's apparent stillness is a result of her superhuman speed and stealth.
"As dark as night" (simile)
While she drives through the streets of London for the first time after a childhood in South Asia, Sara muses about how odd it is to be in a place where “the day was as dark as the night.” England, in this novel, is often contrasted with India. While India is represented as a fantastical place full of bright color and childlike wonder, England represents a kind of fall from innocence. Its gloomy weather and fog take on symbolic resonance here, making Sara feel fearful and disoriented.
"A little dog" (Simile)
At the start of her birthday party, Sara enters accompanied by Lottie, "whose habit was to trot everywhere after her like a little dog." Lottie is in fact so young and immature as to be more like a pet than a friend to Sara. Like a dog, she lacks self-restraint, but is entirely devoted to the person who cares for her. Sara, then, demonstrates great patience in dealing with this rather immature child. At the same time, like a dog owner, she gains comfort from the presence of this small and somewhat nonverbal creature. As Lottie grows older, with Sara's guidance, she remains affectionate but becomes somewhat more independent and restrained.
"Like a drudge" (Simile)
After Sara's father dies and she is forced to work to survive, the narrator reports that she "worked like a drudge." A "drudge" is merely a person, like Sara and Becky in these chapters, who performs menial tasks. Sara, as a matter of fact, does not work "like a drudge"— she is, literally, a drudge. The choice to present this information through simile distances Sara from this new identity, establishing that, regardless of what sort of work she is forced to do, she is not defined by her low station. Though she may look indistinguishable from any other servant, she is, according to the narrator, subtly distinct, different in essence even if identical in her day-to-day labor.
"The daughter of a Rajah" (Simile)
When Ram Dass enters Sara's attic for the first time, she is struck by the way in which he addresses her. In spite of her clearly humble quarters, he "spoke to her as if he were speaking to the little daughter of a rajah, and pretended that he observed nothing." A Rajah is an Indian king or prince. Therefore, this simile implies, on the surface, only that Ram Dass treats Sara with respect. On a deeper level, though, it raises memories of her childhood in India. Thanks to the power structures of British colonialism, a British child being raised in India (like Sara herself) would have been treated as a somewhat authoritative presence. In spite of Sara's youth, therefore, she can expect to outrank even a grown man like Ram Dass because of her Britishness. Here, this information is presented uncritically: Ram Dass's respect for Sara is evidence of a return to normalcy and correctness, rather than of the cruel hierarchies of colonial society.
"Penetrated the walls" (Metaphor)
When the students of Miss Minchin's school find out that Sara has been taken in by an eccentric neighbor and had her money restored to her, Miss Minchin is especially displeased to see how quickly word of her ex-student's good fortune spreads. She "knew that the news had penetrated the walls in some mysterious manner, and that every servant and every child would go to bed talking about it." Rumors fly constantly around the school, and it is nearly impossible to keep secrets. This means that, when Sara falls from the headmistress's good graces and is sent to live in the attic, her humiliation is extremely public and evident to all. But it also means that, when she escapes Miss Minchin's tyranny, Miss Minchin's own humiliation is swift and public, since the changing tides of Sara's circumstances are visible to everyone.
