The effect of a story depends on the methods an author employs to convey it.  The point of view and involvement of the narrator, as well as the treatment of time, are significant aspects to consider in Lorrie Moore’s short story “How”.  These features can be explored through diction and speech acts, the passage of time, and the narrative voice; all of which are illustrated through similes. Moore’s use of simile effectively develops the narrator, the passage of time, and the overarching message of the story.

            To begin with, the narrator can be characterized through the speech acts, as well as the polysyllabic and poetic diction within the similes. When describing the beginning of the relationship, the image made by the simile comparing the attempts at a “less restrictive arrangement” (55) to balloons “sputter[ing] and deflat[ing]” (55) creates a sense that this is a partially homodiegetic narrator. This is supported by the certainty of her words which can be seen through speech acts such as her commands to “watch them sputter and deflate” (55) which suggest that she has been through this before and she is now projecting her own experiences onto a second person. Therefore, the hopelessness and futility of the situation are emphasized through the remnants of the once beautiful “balloons” (55) because the narrator already knows how her story ends and predicts that the situation will be the same for this second person.

             As the relationship reaches its end, there are “bivouac throughout the living room”, and “thoughts of leaving move in” which “have eyes like rodents and peer out […] from under the sofa” (62). The polysyllabic diction such as “bivouac” (62) and figurative language in the personification of “thoughts” (62) together suggest that the narrator is educated and experienced. The effect of the simile comparing thoughts to “rodents” (62) creates an image of evil, frightening creatures taking over the “living room” (62) which was once a comfortable, familiar space. The entire house is no longer a place of warmth and comfort since even the plants have “chosen sides” (62) and proceed to “thrust stems at you like angry limbs” (62) and “caw like crows” (62). The use of poetic diction in the personification of the “houseplants” (62) and comparison of the plants to “crows” (62) further illustrates both the narrator’s imaginative and educated point of view. The mention of crows is animal imagery as well, because the dark, ominous birds create a tense atmosphere. The details that the narrator provides, such as the feelings of guilt and discontent one would get in their own home just by looking at the houseplants, continues to suggest that she is drawing from personal experience.  However, the narrator does not only warn that the home will be an undesirable place to be, but also “at work you will be lachrymose and distracted. You will shamble through the hall like a legume with feet. People will notice” (62). Once again there is certainty to her words and she repeats the word “will” three times which leaves no room for interpretation. As well, polysyllabic diction, with the words “lachrymose” (62) and “legume”(26) within the paratactic sentences, increases her credibility due to the sophisticated use of language. Thus, by being somewhat forceful with her commands and assertions it can be seen that she is an authority figure on the matter, since she has possibly experienced these circumstances before.