Aunt Georgiana's Appearance (Simile and Metaphor)
Clark has a very low opinion of his aunt's physical appearance when she visits him in Boston, and uses rich similes and metaphors to describe aspects of her looks. In a simile, he describes her skin as "yellow as a Mongolian's from constant exposure to a pitiless wind." Her fingers are also compared to "mere tentacles to hold, and lift, and knead with." These descriptions emphasize the damage done by the Nebraskan prairie to Aunt Georgiana's physical appearance.
Human Souls (Metaphor)
Observing his aunt take in the music concert, Clark decides that the human soul can renew itself even after long periods of dormancies. He compares it to a "strange moss which can lie on a dusty shelf half a century and yet, if placed in water, grows green again."
The Impact of the Coach Trip (Simile)
When Aunt Georgina disembarks from the train, Clark is shocked by how disheveled she looks, "not unlike one of those charred, smoked bodies that firemen lift from the débris of a burned building.”
