Simile: The Cellist
The cellist compares the easy way in which music fills his soul with hope to the easy way in which gasoline flows from a pump at the gas station: "Most days he is able to feel the music rejuvenate him as simply as if he were filling a car with gasoline" (xvi). One minute his soul is running low on hope, the next, after playing and feeling the spirit of the music, it is filled with it again. The level of hope rises like the level of gasoline and it is also a simple thing to accomplish because just as he knows where to go to if his car is out of gas, he also knows to go to his cello when his soul is out of hope.
Simile: Frightened Dog
Kenan has left the apartment to get water and is very frightened because each time he leaves he does not know if he will return. He does not want his children to know that he is "sitting on the landing, shaking like a wet and frightened dog" (18). He compares himself to a frightened dog in this way because when a dog is scared, he will sit and hide until he feels that it is safe to come out again, and when a dog is wet he appears bedraggled which adds to the appearance of shaking in fear and powerlessness.
Simile: Herd Of Gazelle
The bridge into the main part of the city is the most dangerous part of the walk that Dragan and his fellow city dwellers take. This is why they appear as herds of humans rather than as individuals; they will walk until they hear the firing of shots, and they see someone around them falling to the ground. Then the people on the bridge will scatter and take cover, hoping that they have hidden themselves adequately to ensure their safety from this round of firing. For a time, nobody will venture out onto the bridge, and it becomes a waiting game between sniper and target. Eventually, someone will step onto the bridge and when they manage to cross it in safety everyone else will do so as well. This is likened to a herd of gazelle—""...and it will all happen again, like a herd of gazelle going back to the water hole after one of their own is eaten there" (33)—because like the gazelle the people on the bridge are the prey, and they do not see their attackers coming until it is too late. The gazelle will scatter until they do not sense danger anymore and then they will go back to the water hole. They will continue to go there until another lion appears to hunt them, and the entire cycle will be repeated.
Metaphor: Arrow's Mind
Arrow meets with Nermin one last time and learns that things have changed for both of them. She will no longer be working for him and be confident that she can do things her own way; she will have to find a way to navigate the city's besiegers, defenders, and those "criminals" in the middle. After she leaves, Galloway writes that "Her mind is all static, a poorly tuned radio" (170). This metaphor effectively conveys that her thoughts are loud, messy, and not making sense. The reader can hear the blaring static, which obfuscates the actual music; thus, Arrow's cogent thoughts have been replaced by mere noise.
Simile: Sarajevo
Of Dragan Galloway writes, "Every day the Sarajevo he thinks he remembers slips away from him a little at a time, like water cupped in the palms of his hands, and when it's gone he wonders what will be left" (25). This simile helps the reader see how fragile memory is, how easily it can seep away and never come back. For Dragan, the old city trickles away; as holding water in one's palms is ultimately impossible, so is holding one's memories.
