"like hunted creatures feigning death" (Simile)
The narrator describes Juliana and Miss Tita's intense seclusion as similar to "hunted creatures" who fake their own deaths in order to go unnoticed, emphasizing how alone they have been for many years. The simile also emphasizes the presence of a hunter—a role that the narrator does not realize he fulfills.
The "flight of time" (Metaphor)
As Miss Tita and the narrator speak in the garden, the narrator describes time moving by quickly as being in "flight," referencing its fast speed.
"her attitude... a prayer for assistance" (Metaphor)
The narrator describes Miss Tita's attitude as a "prayer" for assistance. His description reveals how desperate he believes Miss Tita is, and how dependent he thinks she is upon the approval of others.
"like the reporter of a newspaper who forces his way into a house of mourning." (Simile)
At one point, as he is asking Miss Tita to give him the letters, the narrator feels how forceful he is being and compares himself to a newspaper reporter who is forcing himself into a house of mourning, disrupting the environment and breaking social decorum. The narrator understands how his behavior is too forceful, but he doesn't stop or cease his forceful attitude.
"kindl[ing] the unholy flame" (Metaphor)
After Juliana asks the narrator for even more money in exchange for his room and board, he curses himself for the fact that he has made her realize she can extort money from him. Her newfound discovery of the possible profit she can make off of the narrator is an "unholy flame" because the narrator cannot pay the amount she asks, and he views her desire as greedy.
