“I cannot say if they’re right, but the memory of that lightning still runs through me like a shiver.”

Lightning is a prominent motif in the narrative, and Mary describes how getting struck by lightning changed her. The simile compares the strike’s effect on Mary to a shiver, which can be caused by either pleasure or by uncomfortable events like extreme cold or a high fever. This simile illustrates that the event’s repercussions linger on, though Mary isn’t sure if its impact is positive or negative.

“We were to be moved on, then, like sheep shifted from one cropped field to another. And John must be our shepherd.”

Elizabeth describes her and her sisters’ plight after their parents’ death. Since they aren’t married, their brother becomes their guardian. The comparison of the sisters to sheep highlights their lack of agency as women in the 19th century, with their closest male relative, their brother John, directing their lives as their “shepherd.”

“The following season, she was treated as a fine gown that has dated in storage, the neckline now too high or low, the cloth a touch faded, the cut no longer so flattering.”

Elizabeth describes how quickly a woman can fade into obscurity when she doesn’t make a match. Comparing Margaret to an out-of-fashion garment emphasizes society’s preoccupation with youth and beauty in women.