Wildwood

Diaz uses similes liberally to provide vivid images and a greater understanding of the text. In describing Lola’s mother’s breasts, he writes, “[T]he aureoles are as big as saucers and black as pitch” (Paragraph 3). This entire paragraph is devoted to the enormity of Belicia’s breasts, which equate to power and strength for her. The size of her mother’s breasts embarrasses Lola, and she hopes she does not inherit that trait along with all the others from her mother. In this same scene when Lola is asked to feel her breast for a knot, she thinks that it’s “like a bread that never stopped rising” (Paragraph 6). The knot itself is “tight and secretive as a plot,” sparking an overwhelming feeling of “Bright lights zoom[ing] through [her] like photon torpedoes, like comets” (Paragraph 7). The combination of simile and hyperbole help solidify the impact of what is being said, creating more accurate descriptions and signifying the intensity of the narrator’s feelings in each scene. Months after Lola runs away, Belicia, her sister, and brother-in-law ambush her as she rendezvouses with her brother to get some clothes, books, and money.