Amsterdam’s circles of hell (Simile)
The narrator says that “Amsterdam’s concentric canals resemble the circles of hell? The middle-class hell, of course, peopled with bad dreams.” Thus he shows his attitude to this city, his abhorrence of its “virtues.” And the more he goes around these circles, the more they entwine him in their dark sins.
Phantasmagoria (Metaphor)
Jean calls Paris “a real phantasmagoria, a magnificent stage-setting inhabited by four million silhouettes.” As we know, in this genre of drama the silhouettes represent ghosts, demons, etc. Thus the reader understands how the narrator treats the city – he condemns its wickedness and sinfulness.
Half Cerdan, half de Gaulle (Simile)
After Clamence had been beaten on the road, he “dreamed—this was now clear—of being a complete man who managed to make himself respected in his person as well as in his profession. Half Cerdan, half de Gaulle, if you will.” He compares himself with such famous and talented personalities, thus showing his self-esteem. He regards himself to be not worse than them. He does love himself.
The sun ray in darkness (Metaphor)
The narrator says that gin is “the sole glimmer of light in this darkness.” He asks his friend whether he feels the golden, copper-colored light it kindles in himself. Here Clamence shows that he finds his support and even, in some way, peace not in people, but in alcohol.
