Bellringer
"Scott’s words struck Jarret like a bell clapper, and the truth of it rang through him." This is a very clever play on words that unites the simile and metaphor together to make a more resonant impact. The words that ring Jarret's bell are also a metaphor. Scott has compared the breeding of horses to the desire of horse owners to establish their own sense of good breeding.
Comfort
"Perhaps he was like a horse rescued from a barn on fire, who runs back into his burning stall simply because the place is familiar." This comparison offered by this simile is directed toward the effects slavery. It compares the horse willing to head back to the fire with the fear of slaves that escape will only lead to something as bad, but without the comfort of the known and familiar.
Clancy
One of the first uses of metaphorical imagery in the novel is uses for simple character description. "His immense ears, like radar dishes, twitched toward the noise." If this were a description of Theo, it would create a very distinct portrait. Instead, it a description of Clancy, Theo's dog. And yet it still helps provide insight into Theo as it describes the type of dog that this character would own. Radar-like ears are suggestive of something not immediately revealed about the owner.
Salesmanship
Thomas J. Scott offers up some first-person marathon on the art of the deal. Business advice to whim it may concern. "If you want to get commissions, you have to know what your clients wish to hear. You have to smother them in honey like a fresh-baked biscuit." Thus assertion is advance of meeting Henry Clay, one of several historical figures in the book. He will attempt to pour honey over this famous biscuit from American history.
Anger is an Energy
Theo is beginning to get an idea about correlating enslavement of humans with the training of horses. "Just as a lump of coal, under pressure, could become a diamond bit, Theo had learned to turn his anger into something he could use." The concept of exploiting slavery for personal goals is anathema. But anger is an energy that can makes ugliness shine like something new.
