This passage from Nectar in a Sieve uses both personification and a simile. A simile is a comparison made between two things using the word 'like' or 'as'. In the excerpt, fear is compared to "black flying ants after a storm" using the word 'like'. Personification is when an inanimate object is given human like qualities, such as breathing, feeling, talking, etc. This is also present in the passage because the narrator has transformed fear into a tangible object by comparing it to the black flying ants. Both personification and similes are forms of figurative language, and both can have powerful affects on the way the audience views the story.
In kilo meters 0.4
in centimeters 40000
Maybe Alec feels like he is in the shadow of his "well behaved brother"
