Lights (Simile)
When Douglas begins the summer by looking out over the town and using his "magic" to wake everyone, there is darkness before the light: "The street lights, like candles on a black cake, went out" (2). This simile suggests Douglas's faux power and reinforces the hush and darkness before life asserts itself brightly and enthusiastically.
Wine (Metaphor)
"Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered." (13)
In this metaphor, Bradbury associates dandelion wine with summer. He creates an image of dandelion wine sitting on the tongue, sweet and vivid. It suggests summer and is so potent that when it is bottled up, it is as if summer is also bottled. This is important because Douglas thinks about how in the cold of winter the family can go into the basement and get a bottle of wine and remember the warmth of summer.
The Town (Metaphor)
When Douglas ruminates on the ravine and how nature and civilization are always fighting against each other, he thinks: "The town was, after all, only a large ship filled with constantly moving survivors, bailing out the grass, chipping away the rust. Now and again a lifeboat, a shanty, kin to the mother ship, lost out to the quiet storm of seasons, sank down into silent waves of termite and ant" (17). Douglas (and Bradbury) suggest that nature is always slightly winning, always chipping away at man's attempts to establish a foothold. This description of the ravine is useful in setting it up as an ominous place and foreshadowing later events.
Leo as General (Simile)
Leo observes the town for examples of happiness he can incorporate into his machine, and Bradbury writes, "Leo Auffmann quickened like a general who has seen the forces of darkness routed and whose strategy has been reaffirmed" (54). This simile suggests just how serious, methodical, and dedicated Leo is with his contraption. However, like even the best generals, Leo can't control everything and the machine ends up defeating him.
Helen Loomis (Metaphor)
Helen offers a lovely and bittersweet metaphor for how she feels as an old woman remembering her youth: "When you meet a dragon that has eaten a swan, do you guess by the few feathers left around the mouth? That's what it is - a body like this is a dragon, all scales and folds. So the dragon ate the white swan. I haven't seen her for years. I can't even remember what she looks like. I feel her, though. She's safe inside, still alive" (143). The old her is the dragon, the young her is the swan, and only deep within her memory shall the twain meet.
