Stampede
Wilkerson describes how there was a dramatic increase in migration after World War II, using the metaphor of a stampede: "World War II had set off a virtual stampede."
Flooded metaphor
When describing the migration, Wilkerson uses a metaphor: "more hopeful souls flooded into California." This metaphor emphasizes the sheer amount of people who migrated to the North.
Where the fruit grows...
Wilkerson describes how the North was seen as a place of hope, prosperity, and opportunity by many black people from the South. She uses a quote from author John Steinbeck to emphasize this point, in which he metaphorically describes the North as "the new rich land – in California, where the fruit grows. We’ll start over.”