Metaphor: Stage
Boyer and Nissenbaum use a vivid and effective metaphor to describe the way the it seems like the historical figures in the Trials appear in the record: "They all endlessly glide onto the stage, play their appointed scenes, and disappear into the void" (22). What they are trying to do in their study is bring them more to life—keep them on the stage longer and let them be themselves more fully.
Simile: Salem Town
The authors describe the appearance of Salem Town, comparing it to the ragged edge of a cloth: "it looked like the frayed edge of a ragged piece of cloth" (39). This suggests that, while not a backwater settlement, it was still on the edges of civilization in many respects.
Metaphor: Apron
The Town does not want the Village to be completely autonomous, and the authors use the following metaphor to explain how they behaved: "The Town leadership, in turn, playing upon these differences, proved extremely reluctant to cut the apron strings entirely" (43). We get the sense of the Town as the elder, unwilling to let the younger be free from their control.
Simile: Parents
The authors use an effective simile of parents to suggest how the authorities were not able to control their children since they themselves were too flawed and querulous: "Like vacillating or argumentative parents, the provincial authorities evoked neither affection nor deference from either Village faction" (108).
Metaphor: Backwater
Salem Village, and Parris himself, often felt slighted by the Town and diminished as a lesser settlement. The authors use the following metaphor to articulate this grievance: "the nagging annoyance of being somehow second-rate, of eddying in a backwater while the main current swept on" (167). The Village is that swirling water off the main current, fated to watch as progress and modernity sweep by.
