Writers use figurative language such as imagery, similes, and metaphors to help readers visualize and experience what is happening in a story. Usually, when metaphors are extended over several sentences or even the metaphor stays the same throughout the passage and often communicates some sort of symbolic meaning. However, Steinbeck sometimes uses a mixture of sensory images from multiple metaphors to intro idea, as in this passage about the change that occurred in the Hudson River as a result of the drought.

What do you think Steinbeck accomplishes by mixing metaphors in this way? What is the effect of each metephor on the reader, and what effect is the shift in metaphors likely to have on a reader?