Infernal hypocrisy (Metaphor)
What can be worse, when there is a place for hypocrisy in the human character? Hypocrisy, which has become a hallmark of the protagonists of this novel, destroys any relations between people. It even destroys love between Hector and Adeline, using its poison. “Hypocrisy is a poison” through which the love affair between Valerie and her five lovers, whom she allegedly loves, “represents an angel, who behaves like a demon”. Each hero is hypocritical for his own benefits.
Love is like feeding (Simile)
Adeline’s generous devotion becomes “Hector’s daily bread” for his soul. Valerie’s infidelity is “like a tempting delicacy”. The impregnable woman, and especially the dangerous woman, irritates curiosity “as seasonings stimulate appetite”. That is why Hector becomes so interested in Valerie.
Like pious Catholics (Simile)
Hortense always listens her mother with a fixed gaze. The calm tone of her mother soothes Hortense’s soul. In a frenzy of her affection, she falls on her knees before Adeline, takes up the hem of her dress and kisses it, “as pious Catholics kiss the holy relics of a martyr”. This action shows how much the daughter respects her mother.
