In Chapter 11, Crane uses metaphoric language to describe both the enemy and war in several ways, including "The steel fibers had been washed from their hearts," the enemy is the "dragon," "They [the enemy] charged down upon him [Henry] like terrified buffaloes," and war is "the red animal, the blood-swollen god."
In describing the exhaustion of both Henry and the other soldiers, Crane uses a series of similes, including "Henry remained on the ground like a parcel, " and the men were so tired that they appeared "like men drunk with wine." In addition, when Henry finally lies down, he is so tired that Crane describes the action as "The youth got down like a crone stooping," and when the soldiers do sleep, they sleep under a night sky, a sky with "a handful of stars lying, like glittering pebbles, on the black level of the night."
In Chapter 14, Crane's use of simile to describe the sounds of war is very effective. Examples include, "This din of musketry, growing like a released genie of sound, expressed and emphasized the army' plight." His use of personification to describe the batteries' need to breathe, as seen in the line, "The guns were roaring without an instant's pause for breath," leaves the reader longing to take a breath.
In Chapter 12, 13, 14, and 22, Crane includes several more instances of figurative language to describe the enemy, Henry, himself, the weapons of war, the officers, the troops, the battlefield, and the flag. The enemy becomes "a hound taking a mouthful of prisoners." Henry is described in two similes as not "going to be badgered like a kitten chased by boys" and "When the enemy seemed falling back before him and his fellows, he went instantly forward like a dog." Regarding weapons of war, examples of figurative language include Henry's "[rifle] was an engine of annihilating power," "his [Henry's] rifle was [also] an impotent stick," and "the voices of the cannon were mingled in a long and interminable row."
