The smell of the old man
The foul and confusing smell of the old man is brought out through the use of a simile in which it is compared to dry fish and urine. The writer’s use of the simile facilitates the comprehension of the smell of the old man as quite unrefined. The writer notes: “He stayed in his bed, smelling like dry fish and urine…”
"Like hairy twisted claws"
The appearance of the yucca roots that the writer’s grandmother used to wash her hair is brought out through the use of a simile. The scary appearance of the roots is emphasized when the writer compares them to hairy twisted claws: “… I was afraid of them for a long time because they looked like hairy twisted claws.”
"Like new wool"
The light from the snow in the wind is said to come in thick and copious tufts like new wool. The employment of the simile thus enhances imagery as it evokes the development of a visual image of the light from the snow in the reader’s subconscious: “The sun had gone down but the snow in the wind gave off its own light. It came in thick tufts like new wool—washed before the weaver spins it.”
"rain rolled off them like bird's feathers"
The tightness of the blankets woven by Ayah’s mother is emphasized through the use of a simile. Specifically, the writer compares how rain rolled off them to how rain rolls off a bird’s feathers. While exaggerating and enhancing imagery of the rolling water from the blankets, the simile also alludes to her (Ayah’s mother) highly skilled weaving. The writer notes: “The blankets her mother made were soft and woven so tight that rain rolled off them like birds’ feathers.”
The flying snowflakes
The door to the bar that Chato leaves open allows snowflakes to fly in, and a simile is used to compare this to the flying in of moths. The simile thus facilitates imagery that appeals to the reader’s senses. The writer notes: “Snowflakes were flying inside like moths and melting into a puddle on the oiled wood floor.”
