"Like Slaves Who Didn't Know They'd Been Emancipated" (Simile)
After a passage describing the attempts to enforce anti-looting regulations, the narrator notes that "the civilians in the camps could be policed, as most never left the perimeter, but untold Americans still walked the great out there, beyond order’s embrace, like slaves who didn’t know they’d been emancipated" (p. 48). This interesting simile makes the case that those outside of the camps–and thus outside of the reconstructed society–are the ones without freedom. In this comparison, the construction of the camps is akin to the emancipation of slaves. By making this comparison, Whitehead is suggesting that living in a society, with rules and orders, is a great gift even if this might not always seem to be the case.
Unsnuffable Insects (Metaphor)
Early in the novel, Whitehead writes that survivors of the plague are "seemingly unsnuffable human cockroaches" (p. 39). Through this metaphor, the survivors are directly compared to the infamously resilient insects. In many ways, it is an unflattering comparison, suggesting that these humans are as inconsequential as bugs. At the same time, it reveals just how gritty, dirty, and unpleasant the experience of the plague was. Indeed, in order to survive the ordeal, one must be able to withstand having experiences like that of a bug.
The Rotting Skels (Simile)
As a writer, Whitehead has an incredible capacity for crafting vivid descriptions. In the case of Zone One, this often manifests in gruesome and grotesque depictions of the skels. In one scene, Mark is bagging up the body of an office worker. When he grabs the body by the ankle, "its panty-hose curled back over its toes like a banana peel" (p. 69). This simile–comparing a skel's stocking-covered foot with a banana–is certainly an unappetizing image. At various points in the novel, Whitehead uses food in his similes and metaphors. By juxtaposing the grossness of the skels with food–something supposed to be appealing–Whitehead produces the type of discomfort, even queasiness, that is essential to the horror genre.
The Farmhouse Like an Iceberg (Simile)
When Mark stumbles upon the farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts, it is described as being "prim and elegant, sticking up out of the overgrown lawn and companion acres, jutting from the industrious wildflowers and grasses like an iceberg" (p. 210). In this simile, the farmhouse is compared to an iceberg. By extension, this implies that the area of the farmhouse–in which Mark had been struggling to survive for several months–was akin to an ocean. The image of the iceberg indicates how unexpected and striking the farmhouse was; however, icebergs are also incredibly dangerous. In this sense, this simile serves as a foreshadowing of the chaos that will soon occur around the farmhouse.
Recognizable Skels (Simile)
Early in the novel, when Mark encounters the skels in the office building, the narrator states that "every so often he recognized something in these monsters, they looked like someone he had known or loved" (p. 19). This simile compares the appearance of the skels to the people who had once been a part of Mark's life. In this instance, the skel looks like Mark's elementary school English teacher. This simile is essential to understanding the compassion that Mark feels for the skels. Unlike Gary, Mark is able to see the humanity of the skels. More than just merely people to Mark, these skels are like people Mark "had known or loved" (p. 19). The image of a zombified version of our loved ones should be deeply upsetting, and it gives us an idea of the kind of trauma that Mark had to face on a constant basis.
