Hair black as ebony (Simile)
This line is taken directly from the Brothers Grimm's retelling of the Snow White tale. It compares Snow White's hair to a dark wood and closes the first paragraph of the novel. It establishes that the novel is directly referencing the Snow White fairytale. The hair and its dark color, likened to a dark wood, also represent the mystery of Snow White and her sexual power.
Imagination like stock certificate (Simile)
When Snow White tries to explain her imagination to the dwarves, she says that it is stirring like "the long sleeping stock certificate suddenly alive in its green safety-deposit box." By likening imagination to a stock certificate, she reveals that the dwarves have no imagination because they only understand it when it is explained through terms related to money or finance. Their bourgeois values (money and wealth) are emphasized.
The ornament on the golden tree (Metaphor)
When Dan describes the value of "horsewives" and praises them, he says that the horsewife is the "chiefest ornament on the golden tree of human suffering." He implies that the horsewife adorns human suffering and makes it more beautiful. They are also the most important ornament because they are the "chiefest," which further emphasizes the importance of the horsewife for American society.
Cream-of-wheat belly (Metaphor)
When Snow White strips and regards her naked body, she calls her belly "cream-of-wheat," referencing the white color of her skin. By using a food metaphor, she turns herself into something that can be consumed. It is something that has a sensuous quality—the quality of taste. She objectifies her own body and regards it as a product for someone else's enjoyment.
Fever (Metaphor)
When Hogo confesses his love to Snow White, he says that his love is a fever coursing through his body. This metaphor is an example of Barthelme's subversion of literary techniques. Although the fever starts out as a metaphor for the intensity of Hogo's love, Snow White interprets it as real and recommends that he take an aspirin for his fever. The metaphor ceases to be a metaphor when it is taken literally, which also points towards the misunderstanding and incompatibility between Snow White and Hogo.
"Wrinkle" in his groin (Metaphor)
When Hogo experiences arousal while wandering around the city, he describes the feeling as a "wrinkle" in his groin. Instead of calling it arousal, he reimagines the arousal as a wrinkle in fabric, which implies that it must be smoothed out and acted upon. The "wrinkle" compels him to search for a woman. It is implied that he will have sex with the woman in order to get rid of the "wrinkle."
