Bless Me Ultima Metaphors
“But Fatima thought wretched years should be rounded out by a few good one, which she had yet to have” (72)
Boo continues to characterize Fatima by showing the reader that she is slightly superstitious and believes in the balancing of life’s fair and unfair events.
“...the rain came down like nails.” (73)
The author’s use of a simile gives the reader a sense of the rain’s sharpness by comparing it to nails. This helps to develop the setting.
“...but to judge by the piles, the Muslim garbage people were less poor than had been assumed.” (85)
This passage gives the reader and the Husain family hope when they realize that the family isn’t as poor as they seem.
“If the bulldozers came to flatten the slum, a decent hut was seen as a kind of insurance.” …show more content…
The fact that these village relatives can do that emphasizes the fact that the Mumbai slums are dirty and leave visible marks on its inhabitants.
“She’d been distinguished by her ability to work like a donkey even when she hadn’t eaten for days” (136)
Boo uses a simile to describe the character’s hard working nature. By using a simile, Boo characterizes the person in a more meaningful way.
“An urban, college-going girl was a firework in the village.” (140)
Boo’s use of a metaphor shows how out of place an urban, college girl is in a place like that village. It helps the reader compare their normal life to the poverty-stricken lives of the characters in the story.
“...constables enlisted other scavengers to load the body into a police van, so that the constables wouldn’t catch the diseases that trash pickers were known to carry.” (153)
It’s depressing how the police in Annawadi are willing to take advantage of less fortunate people to prevent themselves from being ill.
“His breath smelled worse than that of the slum’s rotten-food-eating pigs” (157)
Boo uses hyperbole here to help the reader experience the stench of this person’s breath. The hyperbole also helps characterize the person in a more memorable …show more content…
In his mind, all he sees is part of his second-favorite video game and doesn’t realize what could happen if the speculations of bombings could be true.
“Sonu deputized Sunil to catch frogs at Naupada slum, since Naupada frogs tasted better than the sewage-lake ones.” (193)
This passage gives the reader a better understanding of the environment by saying that the environment affects the wildlife in such a way that makes the wildlife in a certain area worse for food.
“In February, his own trail approaching, he began to follow trials across India in the Urdu papers the way other Annawadians followed soap operas.” (200)
Boo uses an analogy to show Karam’s fervent following of trials. Watchers of soap operas and TV in general tend to follow their shows very closely, which helps the reader understand how closely Karam follows the trials.
“She wished she hadn’t said, during the fight with Fatima, that she would twist off her neighbor’s other leg; she wished her father hadn’t threatened Fatima up.”
Boo continues to characterize Fatima by showing the reader that she is slightly superstitious and believes in the balancing of life’s fair and unfair events.
“...the rain came down like nails.” (73)
The author’s use of a simile gives the reader a sense of the rain’s sharpness by comparing it to nails. This helps to develop the setting.
“...but to judge by the piles, the Muslim garbage people were less poor than had been assumed.” (85)
This passage gives the reader and the Husain family hope when they realize that the family isn’t as poor as they seem.
“If the bulldozers came to flatten the slum, a decent hut was seen as a kind of insurance.” …show more content…
The fact that these village relatives can do that emphasizes the fact that the Mumbai slums are dirty and leave visible marks on its inhabitants.
“She’d been distinguished by her ability to work like a donkey even when she hadn’t eaten for days” (136)
Boo uses a simile to describe the character’s hard working nature. By using a simile, Boo characterizes the person in a more meaningful way.
“An urban, college-going girl was a firework in the village.” (140)
Boo’s use of a metaphor shows how out of place an urban, college girl is in a place like that village. It helps the reader compare their normal life to the poverty-stricken lives of the characters in the story.
“...constables enlisted other scavengers to load the body into a police van, so that the constables wouldn’t catch the diseases that trash pickers were known to carry.” (153)
It’s depressing how the police in Annawadi are willing to take advantage of less fortunate people to prevent themselves from being ill.
“His breath smelled worse than that of the slum’s rotten-food-eating pigs” (157)
Boo uses hyperbole here to help the reader experience the stench of this person’s breath. The hyperbole also helps characterize the person in a more memorable …show more content…
In his mind, all he sees is part of his second-favorite video game and doesn’t realize what could happen if the speculations of bombings could be true.
“Sonu deputized Sunil to catch frogs at Naupada slum, since Naupada frogs tasted better than the sewage-lake ones.” (193)
This passage gives the reader a better understanding of the environment by saying that the environment affects the wildlife in such a way that makes the wildlife in a certain area worse for food.
“In February, his own trail approaching, he began to follow trials across India in the Urdu papers the way other Annawadians followed soap operas.” (200)
Boo uses an analogy to show Karam’s fervent following of trials. Watchers of soap operas and TV in general tend to follow their shows very closely, which helps the reader understand how closely Karam follows the trials.
“She wished she hadn’t said, during the fight with Fatima, that she would twist off her neighbor’s other leg; she wished her father hadn’t threatened Fatima up.”