“I started as a butcher, so I still think in terms of joints and muscles, the connective tissue of life. Cut the right one and you end up with a perfect steak. Cut the wrong one and the whole system breaks down.”

The passage employs a potent metaphor drawn from Sara’s past as a butcher, underscoring the gravity of making the right choice in a complex scenario. The vivid imagery and precise language instill a sense of urgency and potential peril linked to this decision. The visceral image encapsulates Sara’s fear of failure and her belief in the potentially catastrophic outcomes of a single misstep.

“Our marriage had become merely a bundle of services that neither of us could fulfill enough for the other.”

With a tone of resignation and melancholy, Sara confronts the bitter reality of her relationship and the failure of her marriage and career. By characterizing the relationship as a bundle of services, she underscores the transactional and pragmatic nature that the marriage has deteriorated into. The passage accentuates the loss of emotional and personal connection, suggesting that the marriage is now driven by tasks and obligations rather than love and mutual support, reduced to something insignificant, mechanical, and businesslike.

“The witch’s home smelled like an animal right before slaughter: wild, anxious, clinging to hope.”

Young Serafina, filled with desperation and fear, arrives at the witch’s cave, not fearing the healer but the repercussions of her actions. Using a simile creates a striking, unsettling image, underscoring the young girl’s impending doom. The scent she perceives is her fear.