Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings Metaphors and Similes

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Culture Clash

A striking metaphorical image is conveyed by one character to another when describing the culture clash between Chinese and Americans in something as simple as a physician listening to a heartbeat through his stethoscope:

"It was like preparing a lamb for slaughter…The modesty of generations of maternal ancestors was crucified as I rolled down the neck of her silk tunic."

Internal Struggle

“Its Wavering Image” opens by informing the reader that Pan is half-white and half-Chinese. Just like the author. This duality of identity informs many of the stories in the collection, but one particular metaphor sums up the internal struggle more than any other:

“it seemed at times as if her white self must entirely dominate and trample under foot her Chinese.”

Character Description

The power of the comparison made through simile to boil down the personality traits of a character is put on exemplary display throughout the collection, but a schoolteacher in the story “The Gift of Little Me” is the recipient of top honors.

"Though her smile is as sweet as honey, her heart is like a razor."

Setting

The author also illustrates the efficiency of metaphorical language to transform a common setting into a portrait of something much more aesthetically pleasing. She uses language to paint not just colors, but the gentle shadings and subtle hues of reality:

“The sun hovered over the Olympic mountains like a great, golden red-bird with dark purple wings, its long tail of light trailing underneath in the waters of Puget Sound.”

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