Many different literary devices can be used to create literary analogies—metaphors, similes, allegories, and more. Authors use them in order to show how typically unlike ideas share some types of similarities and therefore deepen characterization or themes in literature.

In "The Storm," there are several analogies. Here are a few of those:

The storm itself: The brewing storm is analogous to the sexual affair that blows into Calixta's life. There are only a few drops falling when M'sieur Alcée enters her house, but as he stays longer, the intensity of the storm picks up. As their passions crescendo, the storm heightens with "crashing torrents, and the roar of elements." The affair is thus linked to a natural desire, and the fact that this is a temporary moment, a sensuous affair that blows over, is also natural.

The glistening green world, a palace of gems: When Alcée rides away after the sexual encounter, he turns to smile at Calixta. She "lift[s] her pretty chin in the air and laugh[s] aloud." The rain is over; the affair is over. And they are left with something beautiful—a world that is "glistening green" and a "palace of gems." This analogy shows the value of the affair. It has given them both new life and is a sense of rebirth for the lives they now plan to live separately and with their own spouses.

The color white: Calixta has a "white neck" and a "white throat and ... whiter breasts." Her bedroom holds a "white, monumental bed," and her passion is described as a "white flame." She is also described as being "as white as the couch she lay upon." Traditionally, the color white represents innocence. It's important to recall that Calixta and Alcée have met before, in Assumption, the name of the town itself conjuring allusions to the Virgin Mary. Yet in Assumption, the couple kissed—and stopped. In the midst of this storm, Calixta shares herself with Alcée in a way that the younger, more innocent version of herself could not. Youthful passions and the memories of an innocent girl swirl around the couple as they engage as fully consenting adults.