Addicted (Metaphor)
The main reason of all the conflicts that the protagonist and Reza had was money. Unlike the protagonist, Reza had a job that brought him enough money to live quite comfortably, but the man still borrowed money from his less fortunate friend. Reza was addicted to “the white Columbian,” so everything he earned was spent on drugs. He was always “sniffing” because of “a natural impulse to powder his nose” with it. Though that fact didn’t bother the narrator, he was more worried about his money that Reza still owed to him.
Wasting (Metaphor)
The narrator is angry. He is both exhausted and hungry, but emptiness in his pockets leaves him with little choice. He needs to find Reza and get his money back as soon as possible. He knows that the “improvised restaurant musician blows everything up his nose” every time he receives some money. That is the reason why the narrator runs from one café to another, trying to find Reza or people who know where the musician hides. The narrator is not willing to give up on that little sum of money that he was stupid enough to lend to Reza.
Wealthy (Metaphor)
Being poor, the protagonist hates those who have money. They don’t know what hunger or cold is; they can follow their dreams and do what they want. He despises how those “pale-faced vegans” pretend to care about of everyone and everything. The protagonist is convinced that “their low-sitting” is just another passage in their short lives. In the end, they will “get bigger spoons” and “dig up the earth for their fathers’ and mothers’ inheritances.”
The beauty (Simile)
The protagonist’s sister is one of the most beautiful women he has ever had a chance to meet. Unfortunately for her, she falls in love with a dishonest and cruel man who doesn’t know what love or compassion is. The protagonist can’t put up with it but he doesn’t know how to help her. She gets pregnant and can’t leave him anymore. Even her sparkling beauty fades. Her legs to her ankles “look straight as cylinders,” she walks slowly “with her hand against her back.”
Immovable (Simile)
The protagonist walked towards Shohreh’s table, “very awake, with a numb upper lip” that felt “as solid and stretched out as an elephant’s trunk.” He “snored a line” of “baby powder” few minutes ago, so he didn’t feel like himself. It was difficult for him to move or even talk. However, he still wanted to have a dance with Shohreh and she didn’t seem to mind his clearly dazed state of mind. She got used to him.
