Alarm Bells (Metaphor)
When Dahl and his friends stop by the candy shop on the way to school to see whether their prank on Mrs. Pratchett was successful, a collective unease descends on the group at the sight of the broken jar on the floor of the closed store. They walk away in silence, sensing danger in the air. Dahl writes, "Alarm bells were beginning to ring faintly in our ears." In this metaphor, Dahl illustrates the fear the boys feel by stating that they can hear alarm bells. There are no actual alarm bells going off; rather, because the boys assume they are about to face some consequence for their prank, they feel the panic that real alarm bells would provoke.
A Nightmare (Metaphor)
When Dahl is watching his friends get caned by Mr. Coombes as punishment for pranking Mrs. Pratchett, Mrs. Pratchett's presence intensifies Dahl's discomfort. Dahl comments, "The violence was bad enough, and being made to watch it was even worse, but with Mrs Pratchett in the audience the whole thing became a nightmare." In this metaphor, Dahl emphasizes the surreal horror of the experience by referring to it as a nightmare, even though the corporal punishment is happening in waking life.
Like an Athlete (Simile)
As Mr. Coombes viciously beats Dahl's and his friend's backside with a cane, Mrs. Pratchett exacts her revenge against the troublemakers by urging Coombes to hit them harder. Dahl writes, "She kept up her screeching all the way through, exhorting Mr Coombes to greater and still greater efforts, and the awful thing was that he seemed to be responding to her cries. He was like an athlete who is spurred on by the shouts of the crowd in the stands." In this simile, Dahl illustrates Mr. Coombes's vigorous response to Mrs. Pratchett's encouragement by likening him to an athlete who has a burst of energy when spectators cheer him on.
Moving Like Lightning (Simile)
While at boarding school, Dahl and the other pupils are terrified of the Matron, a nurse who oversees the boys' well-being while they live in the dormitories. When describing her presence in the hallway, Dahl writes, "She could move along that corridor like lightning, and when you least expected it, her head and her bosom would come popping through the dormitory doorway." In this simile, Dahl emphasizes the speed and terror-inducing nature of the woman by comparing her movement to strikes of lightning.
Skim Them Off the Top of My Consciousness (Metaphor)
In the preface to Boy: Tales of Childhood, Dahl comments on how he recounted the memories that comprise the book without having to do research, because everything in the book was already present in his mind. Dahl writes, "I didn’t have to search for any of them. All I had to do was skim them off the top of my consciousness and write them down." In this metaphor, Dahl highlights the ease with which he located the memories by likening the work to an action as simple as scooping up something that floats on something larger, such as lifting a stick from the surface of a pond.
