“He was so skinny you could do a week's washing on his ribs for a washboard and hang 'em up on his hip-bones to dry.”
This is the type of simile that is indicative of a socio-economic cultural awareness. The washboard immediately the speaker as someone of a lower economic status as well as alluding to a time period. The same goes for hanging items out to dry. Clearly this is not a conversation shared among middle class status-holders.
Riffing on a Theme
The conversational manner of discourse and familiarity of the characters with each other is exhibited through the use of a riffing on a simile. A metaphorical concept is established and a theme quickly develops in a way that almost serves the narrative in the same capacity as a Greek chorus in an ancient tragedy:
HAMBO: Poor Jak…. I'm really sorry for dat man. If she was mine I'd beat her till her ears hung down like a Georgy mule.
WALTER THOMAS: I'd beat her till she smell like onions.
LIGE: I'd romp on her till she slack like lime.
NIXON: I'd stomp her till she rope like okra.
“This sho is a snake town.”
A conversation about snakes reliant on hyperbole for the humor—one character claims that a snake moved to Florida to get away from him while another repeats a story in which what was once a four-foot long snake is now remembered as being fourteen feet long—moves quickly to this equally hyperbolic metaphorical assertion of the town by yet another character.
“You-all ought to be shame, carrying on over a brazen heifer like Daisy Taylor.”
Daisy is a flirt. She likes the attention of men and the power their fascination with her endows. Especially the power to reject them all without suffering undo emotion herself. She is the type of young woman that a more experienced older female would recognize immediately and feel no compunction about using this common bovine comparison.
“I thought all of y'all would've done jumped over de broomstick by now.”
Jumping the broomstick is a metaphor for getting married. It is a reference to a ritual in which the bride and groom complete the wedding ceremony by jumping in unison over a broom set on the ground before them. Although often considered an African superstitious rite that became prevalent especially among African-Americans in the South, recent research now presents a strong argument that the ritual originated with another oppressed minority (though not nearly as oppressed as the African-American community) that settled throughout the South: Roma Gypsies from Ireland and Romnichal Gypsies from Wales.
