Teased and pulled about like a puppet (Simile, page 37)
On the day of Chueh-hsin's engagement, he has to perform rituals and pretend to be grateful for the engagement. Chueh-hsin feels "teased and pulled about like a puppet," manipulated by others without control over his own future or actions.
Smouldering volcano (Metaphor, page 144)
Chueh-hui feels that his family "harbors a smoldering volcano" under its peaceful exterior. A smoldering volcano, a powerful force of nature, is liable to erupt at any time and cause untold damage. Chuh-hui knows that his family uses Confucian manners and ostentatious displays of affluence to mask their discontent.
Like Resurrecting a Corpse (Simile, page 112)
Chueh-hui believes that even the New Culture books cannot save people like Chueh-hsin, who have lost everything to the Confucian patriarchal system. Though Chueh-hui wants to change Chueh-hsin's policy of non-resistance, he realizes that teaching people like Chueh-hsin the way to liberate themselves would be like "resurrecting a corpse and letting it view its own putrefying flesh." A corpse can do nothing to heal its putrefying flesh, and the corpse did not know it was dead until it was resurrected. Similarly, Chueh-hsin might not have known how miserable his life was until Chueh-hui pointed it out. If Chueh-hui explains how the patriarchal system victimized Chueh-hsin, Chueh-hsin will suffer.
Clear and Muddy Water (page 106)
Mama Huang believes that "after living in clear water, it's not worth staying after it gets muddy." In this statement, Mama Huang expresses that when she first started working for the Kao family, the family was pure and respectable, like clear waters. Now, Mama Huang believes the Kao family is now like muddy water, corrupted by death, tragedies, and moral hypocrisy.
Water like Satin (Simile, page 150)
The young people go rowing on the lake and enter a still expanse of water. Chueh-min remarks that the water is "is like satin." Satin is a supple, smooth fabric. The water on the lake is similarly without ripples or choppiness.
