After the Swede and Johnnie get into a fight over a card game—with the Swede accusing Johnnie of cheating—Scully forces them (and the other guests) to take the fight outside into the cold. The narrator takes a moment to describe the stormy scene around the men, using metaphors and a simile in the process:
No snow was falling, but great whirls and clouds of flakes, swept up from the ground by the frantic winds, were streaming southward with the speed of bullets. The covered land was blue with the sheen of an unearthly satin, and there was no other hue save where, at the low, black railway station—which seemed incredibly distant—one light gleamed like a tiny jewel.
In the first metaphor here, the narrator describes “whirls and clouds of flakes” moving “with the speed of bullets,” helping readers feel the ferocity of the snowy wind. In the following sentence, the narrator uses a second metaphor, describing how the snow-covered ground is “blue with the sheen of an unearthly satin.” This description helps readers visualize the scene while also adding an eerie energy (via the word “unearthly”), encouraging readers to understand that nothing good will come of this violent conflict.
The narrator also uses a simile in this passage, noting how a single light in the “distant” railway station “gleamed like a tiny jewel.” Throughout the story, the train station exists as a symbol for connection to the civilized world. Here, as the men give into their baser animal instincts and brawl, the rational, civilized train station appears as far away as a jewel that is beyond their grasp.
After the Swede wins his fight with Johnnie and flees from the hotel, he ends up at a saloon, channeling his agitated energy into trying to get other patrons to drink with him. The narrator captures the Swede’s aggravated state using a simile, as seen in the following passage:
"Gentlemen," the Swede cried to the men at the table, “have a drink?” […]
The group at the table, although furtively attentive, had been pretending to be deep in talk, but now a man lifted his eyes toward the Swede and said, shortly, “Thanks. We don’t want any more.”
At this reply the Swede ruffled out his chest like a rooster. “Well,” he exploded, “it seems I can’t get anybody to drink with me in this town.”
The simile here—in which the narrator describes how the Swede “ruffled out his chest like a rooster”—effectively demonstrates how agitated and quick-to-anger the Swede is in this moment. The other bar patrons are politely declining his invitation to drink, and yet, he reads this as a threat, becoming outwardly aggressive in response. This moment highlights how little control the Swede has over his violent actions. Like a rooster, he reacts in an animalistic way in order to protect himself.
