Gloomy (Metaphor)
In spite of the merriment of New Year’s Eve, there was no “gladness in his heart.” Max Disher wasn’t broke, but he was “damnably blue.” He could not share “the hilarity of the crowd,” because he had “no girl.” He and Minnie “had quarreled that day and everything was over between them.” Max was bitterly disappointed in both her and himself. It was so foolish of him to give Minnie “too much.” Bunny, his old friend, managed to make him feel better, for he saved him from a lonely night at the Honky Tonk Club. He didn’t have a girl to dance with, but he had a good friend to drink with.
Too much (Metaphor)
Max learned his lesson: Minnie taught him that one had to be rather careful with women. However, Max wasn’t sure that his newly gained knowledge would help him to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. According to Max, women were “funny” which meant ungrateful. You could “give them the moon” and they “wouldn’t appreciate it.” It “didn’t pay to spend too much on them.” As soon as he had bought her “a new outfit and paid the rent,” she had “grown uppity.”
Pessimistic (Metaphor)
Unlike Chuck Foster, Johnson was an optimist. He believed in his lucky star, he was sure that everything was going to be just fine. Foster was different. He couldn’t forget about the possible difficulties of their work and even their success couldn’t reassure him. Johnson liked to say, “quit singin’ th’ blues!” It was too tiring for him to listen to gloomy Chuck.
The same (Simile)
Dr. Crookman was a professional. He was sure that he could solve a problem of racism in the United States. However, some critics were skeptical about the whole idea. Crookman could change a skin color, but couldn’t change “the so-called Negro lips,” noses and other parts of a face. Dr. Crookman had a counterargument. There were “plenty of Caucasians” who had “lips quite as thick and noses quite as broad as many of” black people. It wasn’t a problem.
Clear (Simile)
It was as clear “as a spring day” that “the longer” the whitening process continued, “the longer” Matthew and his company could “drag down the jack.” Money was the only one concern. It could sound harshly, but that was the truth. Matthew found a way to earn money on ignorance of white people and he didn’t want to stop.
