Exotic Locales
This story is included in a collection in which all the tales are set in the islands of the Pacific. The author very quickly and very efficiently situates the particulars of exoticism through metaphorical description:
“The mosquitoes had been maddening that night; they flew about the net under which he slept in such numbers that their humming, pitiless and menacing, had the effect of a note, infinitely drawn out, played on a distant organ”
Literary Allusion
A literary allusion punctuates a litany of descriptive imagery which sets the physical determination of Walker in the mind. The allusion serves as metaphorical shorthand which at the time of publication would have been much more broadly understood by readers than it would today:
“He reminded you of Mr. Pickwick.”
Biblical Allusion
An allusion to what is ironically the most familiar setting in the Holy Bible at the same time that it is one of the least detailed in its description serves to paint a quick portrait of the view of the island setting. Adding to the irony is that the description of the island itself is actually more finely detailed than the biblical location used to metaphorically illuminate it:
"By George, it's like the garden of Eden."
Metaphorically Modifying
Metaphor need not be a complex image of one thing representing another. In some cases, a metaphor can be a single word used to modify the precise meaning of another:
“Mackintosh observed this sentiment with an icy disdain.”
Supporting Characters
The story is basically a stand-off between two men in which the climax arrives to resolve the dramatic conflict created by the opposition. However, a few minor but key figures also come into play. Metaphorical description serves to facilitate the significance of their brief appearances:
“An elderly man came forward, a man with a crop of curly grey hair, in a blue lava-lava, elaborately tattooed, with the skin of his body wrinkled like a wine-skin.”
