"The dark was full of women’s voices..."
The author makes the dark alive as if it is not empty, but a breathing creature. This helps the author to strengthen Cameron's pain from his memories of the war which he went through, which "sucked the air from his lungs and left him choking".
Splinter of rage
A splinter of rage that "jabbed Cameron’s chest" brightly shows the reader the power of the character's anger at the boy who was a kind of danger to Cameron and the people around him, and meanwhile this imagery highlights the character's restraint and sobriety, as his rage didn't make him look mad outside, moreover it did not prevent him from acting correctly according to the situation.
Earthquake is a revenge of karma
The author writes that Malathi thought after her kiss with a married colleague "...wheel of karma began rolling, and retribution struck in the form of the earthquake." Thus the author shows the power of the woman's belief and trust in the tools of her religion, he highlights the woman's insecurity that she did the right thing.
