"Like lemons on a slot machine" (Simile)
When the Actress speaks with Lizzie, she notes how Lizzie has the habit of looking straight into a person’s eyes when she thinks they are lying. The reason why she does this is because Lizzie thinks that in this way, the truth will come out. The Actress compares the truth with the lemons on a slot machine, thus implying that if a person tries hard enough to find the truth, it will eventually be revealed.
"You always paint the background" (Metaphor)
The Actress tells Lizzie that, when discussing the events leading up to the murder of her parents, she always "paints the background." This metaphor suggests that Lizzie is always vague about what happened that day, setting the scene, but never laying out the events themselves, or "the foreground" to continue the metaphor.
"A woman is just like a horse" (Simile)
This is a degrading simile that Bridget recalls hearing Mr. Borden use to describe the fact that men have to tame women and get them to follow orders as they would a horse. She quotes him, "You keep her on a tight rein, or she'll take the bit in her teeth and next thing you know, road, destination, and purpose is all behind you, and she'll be damn lucky if she don't pitch you right in a sewer ditch!"
"I'm supposed to be a mirror" (Metaphor)
In talking to her father, Lizzie bemoans the fate of a woman, comparing it to being a mirror. "I'm supposed to reflect what you want to see," she says, "But everyone wants something different." This metaphor reveals Lizzie's inner turmoil, which has a feminist perspective.
"Perhaps she was like a bird" (Simile)
In another conversation with her father, Lizzie uses this simile to describe what might have happened to her mother, who died giving birth to her. "Perhaps she was like a bird," she says, "She could see all the blue sky and she wanted to fly away but she couldn't."
