Obese (Metaphor)
Quoyle knew that good looks meant a lot and if one wasn’t blessed with beauty or – at least – just attractive appearance, that person could be mistreated, judged and underestimated by others. Of course, there were and there will be exceptions, but poor Quoyle proved on his own example that a life of a person whose appearance wouldn’t even be considerate as average could be rather hard. At sixteen he was “buried under a casement of flesh,” which meant that he wasn’t just slightly overweight. That earned him bullying and teasing from his family and classmates.
Old connections (Metaphor)
They say that it is important to make friends whenever and wherever one can. Although Quoyle doesn’t look like a person who would try to use his friends or acquaintances for his own benefit, his diligence and kindness can inspire other people from time to time to do something good. For instance, Partridge uses his “old strings” in the newspaper world and helps Quoyle to find a new job.
The power of evidence (Metaphor)
Nutbeem and Tert Card spend a lot of time bickering. The latter often criticizes Nutbeem’s clumsy writing style, his constant typographical errors and other things, while Nutbeem says that he does it only to save Cart from accusations of plagiarism. To “open your eyes” and prove that he is the only one who is right in this situation, Tert Card is ready to show all Nutbeem’s articles.
Solid (Simile)
Discussing the houses that have been standing empty for more than 30 years with Billy, the latter mentions that some of them are “as straight as a ruler,” that they are still as good as they used to be. Those houses are solid and neither storms nor time can bring them much damage.
Uncomfortable (Simile)
No one really likes to sleep in a small car which is also packed heavily. The aunt is not sure if she would be able to repeat such an unpleasant experience in the future. Her neck is “welded” and Bunny sleeps “as quiet as an eggbeater,” which probably means that the girls snores loudly enough to prevent her grandaunt from falling asleep.
Light (Simile)
Petal Bear was a quite attractive woman, even beautiful if it wasn’t for that hideous “fluorescent light” that made her “as pale as candle wax” which made her look definitely unhealthy. However, Quoyle didn’t seem to mind it at all, for he was ready to do everything she could ask him just to please her from the very first moment.
