Figurative Language

Imagery

I heard his heart. I smelled his breath. The dark earth surrounding us smelled like it was, moist dirt where worms and animals lived their daily lives. I could have yelled for hours.(14)

In Mr. Harvey's house the bathroom and kitchen were spotless. The porcelain was yellow and the tile on the floor is green. He kept it cold...He had a straight chair where he would go to sit sometimes and stare out the window over at the high school, listen for the sound of band practice wafting over from the field...(128)

The author used many imagery in the novel. By using imagery, she was able to make the readers see, hear, smell, taste, and feel everything that was going on in each of the character's lives as the they unfold.


Simile  

He wore his innocence like a comfortable old cloak. (26)

...as his consciousness woke, it was as if poison seeped in. (58) 

The author used simile to describe the actions and guilt a muderer such as Mr. Harvey may have been feeling while pretending to live a normal life.


Flashback

We both listened together to the rain pour down and the thunder clap and smelled the earth rising to greet us. (211)

Through the use of flashback, the author showed the readers a different side of Susie and Lindsey. She brought us to the time away from violence and grief. Using this particular figurative language, the readers are given a glimpse of a childhood that is young, innocent, and free.


Foreshadowing

Are you going to leave us?" Lindsey asked. My mother wobbled. How could she say what she already knew? Instead she told a lie. "I promise I won't leave you. (207)

The fact that Alice Sebold made Lindsey ask her mother this question is a foreshadowing or a hint that their mother will indeed leave her family later in the story.