Shadows (metaphor)
In "Contributions," the narrator states, "Her mother…blended in with the cobwebs, her skin acquiring a dark fuzz, a gleaming scaliness, exploiting the shifting shadows." This metaphor describes the mother's transformation into something almost ethereal. She fades into the background as a part of the neglected corners of the household. The narrative portrays her as a being who has lost her human essence and becomes a creature of stealth and concealment. It reflects the dehumanizing effect of her circumstances, as the community's oppressive system strips away her individuality. In that, it turns her into a mere ghost of herself.
Pressure Cooker (metaphor)
The narrator asserts, "Her husband dragged her body, like a mop, over faded linoleum floors—but a pressure cooker, a vent pipe screaming steam." In “The Hollow,” this metaphor illustrates the woman’s trapped state within her home. It also equates the home to a "pressure cooker" ready to explode. Instead of being a place of comfort, it becomes a site of continuous and oppressive violence. The metaphor captures the suffocating nature of her marriage and the way domestic space. It becomes an unbearable and simmering environment of entrapment. The comparison to a pressure cooker emphasizes the building tension and the inevitability of a breakdown or release.
The Coffin of Fear (simile)
In "Things Boys Do," the narrator says, "Terror can feel like being trapped in a dark, tiny place, with no space to move. Like a locker, like a coffin." The simile speaks to how fear can create a claustrophobic and paralyzing effect on the mind. For the men in the story, this fear stems from their past actions, particularly their mistreatment of a schoolmate. It traps them in a psychological space where they cannot move forward. The coffin imagery reinforces how the weight of guilt and terror feels like a death of freedom.
Swallowing Hot Agbo (simile)
The protagonist in “Girlie” asserts, "To say the word is like to swallow hot agbo." This simile compares the act of speaking the word "Mummy" to swallowing a bitter and hot traditional herbal concoction known as "agbo." The protagonist uses this comparison to illustrate the difficulty and pain of addressing Iya Tomato as her mother. It reveals her emotional discomfort and the unspoken grief for her actual mother. As such, it symbolizes the trauma the protagonist is attempting to suppress.
Tugging at Strings (simile)
In “Breastmilk,” the following simile evokes an image of something foreign and alive: "The milk feels like a living creature crawling out of me." It indicates her alienation from the experience of motherhood where the act of nursing feels strange. Furthermore, it points to the physicality of lactation through a lens of detachment and discomfort, which reflects the disconnect from her role as a mother. Essentially, this simile reveals the complexity of her emotions about her body and its functions.
