He protests at the public display, and Kennedy writes, 'but his voice is like someone you're hanging up on, going small and high-pitched and distant as you put the phone down' (112). Des's Voice (simile)Īt the end of 'Five-Dollar Family,' when Michelle starts breastfeeding in front of Coles, Des is baffled. Moreton back to his room unnoticed to the fact that the narrator won't be able to buy her ticket to London, which was originally the whole purpose of her getting this job. The metaphor of course maps a similar sound onto the door, but extends the consequences of not getting Mr. It is the sound of a plane door closing without me, ready to taxi down a runway and take off for London' (53). Kennedy describes it-'there is a terrible echoing click as it closes on its own deadlock, and I recognise the sound as soon as I hear it. Moreton out for a cigarette, as they're standing outside, she hears the propped door close behind them. A Plane Door Closing (Metaphor)Īt the end of 'Laminex and Mirrors,' when the narrator takes Mr. Neither are pleasant surprises, and they characterize Chris's relationship with the memory of his father, and his relationship with the grieving process, in strongly negative terms. First, like mousetraps, then like landmines.

These little reminders are related through gradually more unpleasant and deadly similes. Kennedy writes, 'since his father died, Chris keeps coming across small reminders everywhere, set like mousetraps ready to snap, like little buried landmines' (18). In 'Ashes,' Chris is surrounded by his late father's possessions, especially while driving his car.

Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy