Feeling of insignificance (metaphor)
The orderly felt himself unimportant when considering the status and position of the captain: “He felt like a gap among it all. Whereas the Captain was prouder, overriding. A hot flash went through the young servant’s body. The Captain was firmer and prouder with life, he himself was empty as a shadow.” This feeling overcame him time after time, and the reason was the captain’s overbearing behavior and his disrespectful attitude towards his orderly.
Flaming eyes (metaphor, simile)
Great attention in the story is given to the eyes of the both characters: “Occasionally, the eyes of the two men met, those of the younger sullen and dark, doggedly unalterable, those of the elder sneering with restless contempt.”; “The officer’s eyes were dancing”; “His face went dead, with two black, staring eyes.” Describing eyes with such details helps the author to open up the inner worlds of his characters: it is a way to convey insight, directly through the eyes. Once the captain threw a glove into the orderly’s face and “he had the satisfaction of seeing the black eyes flare up into his own, like a blaze when straw is thrown on a fire”. Eyes are used in both metaphors and similes to add some coloring to the story.
Inner power increasing (metaphor)
The numerous attacks of the captain became more malicious with time, and in the orderly “inside had gradually accumulated a core into which all the energy of that young life was compact and concentrated”. The orderly started to accumulate his hatred, and after a while it burst out with such a wrath that it cost the captain his life.
