Simile of resemblance
The narrator looks at the human attributes and compares peter to his personality and being. Despite coming from different races and neighborhoods, the narrator feels that all people are equal before God and look alike. The narrator says, “His race and urban neighborhood differed from mine, but he otherwise seemed just like me. That I could experience his race as incidental rather than revelatory was a mark of my privilege as a white child.”
The metaphor of Golly
The author deconstructs the ideology that black dolls used by white kids are for entertainment purposes. The deeper meaning of the dolls like Golly is to initiate racism among white children to consider anything black interior. The narrator recalls having a doll called Golly, and after realizing its meaning during adulthood, he feels ashamed of himself. Consequently, the author uses the doll Golly as a metaphor to mean initiation of racism among the white children. The narrator says, ‘As an adult, I look at Golly, and the racial caricature makes me queasy; I feel ashamed at having grown up with a racist doll.”
The simile of the Cat
Dr. Seuss’s children’s book is entirely satirical. Neil’s critical analysis reveals that the black characters are painted as flouters who do not want to follow simple instructions. Consequently, the blacks are likened to the Cat that embraces the blackface. The author writes, “At his most provocative, the Cat embraces the blackface character's willingness to defy the rules to which he is expected to conform. Likening the minstrel performer to the Bohemian, Lott quotes.”
