Book simile
Here, Bethia describes Caleb seeing his first book: “He made me smile, opening it upside down and back to front, but he touched the pages with the utmost care, as if gentling some fragile-boned wild thing." Bethia is moved by his reaction to the book, as he treats the book as if it is incredibly precious. He is described as handling the book "as if gentling some fragile-boned wild thing." This emphasizes how valuable the book is to Caleb, as he has never seen one before. This foreshadows his aptitude and love for education and learning.
Bethia's nickname
Caleb calls Bethia "storm eyes", which is a metaphor for her volatile, rebellious and passionate personality. Throughout the text she challenges traditional gender roles and expectations put upon her and is anything but placid and obedient.
Caleb simile
Bethia describes Caleb as he walks through the woods: “He walked through the woods like a young Adam, naming creation. I learned to shape my mouth to the words— sasumuneash for cranberry, tunockuquas for frog." She is fascinated by Caleb and his different language and describes him as being like a young Adam, experiencing God's creation.
Harvest metaphor
Bethia uses a metaphor to emphasize restrictions placed on women in society: “Does any woman ever count the grains of her harvest and say: Good enough? Or does one always think of what more one might have laid in, had the labor been harder, the ambition more vast, the choices more sage?” Here she is saying that if there were not so many restrictions on women in society, they would be able to achieve much more, and surpass all expectations. This relates to her personally, as she is denied an education by her father.
