Similes

In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses many similes to describe Amir's emotions.  I already mentioned one example, where he describes pouring rain as melting silver, in a previous blog.  Another powerful example of simile in the novel can be found on page 189.  Hosseini wrote: "And I could almost fell the emptiness in Soraya's womb, like it was a living, breathing thing....  And late at night, in the darkness of our room, I'd feel it rising from Soraya and settling between us.  Sleeping between us.  Like a newborn child."  This simile not only describes Amir's sorrow at not being able to have a child, but it also show the effect it has on their relationship.  The couple that had been so in love now seems to be drifting apart.  Both of them are finding the situation difficult to deal with.  I think this simile might also foreshadow future relationship problems.  This inability to have a child could lead to a distancing in their relationship and eventually divorce.  I'll have to keep reading to find out.