Both the war magic of Umuofia and the market magic of Umuike are personified as old women. Why do you suppose this is?

What theme is the main theme of this excerpt from the metal pig by hans christian andersen? in the garden of the grand duke's palace under the roof of one of the wings were a thousand roses bloom in winter, a little ragged boy had been sitting the whole day long. the boy might serve as a type of italy lovely and smiling and yet suffering. he was hungry and thirsty but no one gave him anything and when it became dark and they were about to close the gardens, the porter turned him out. a long time he stood musing on the bridge which crosses the arno and looking at the glittering stars that were reflected in the water which flowed between him and the wonderful marble bridge trinita. he then walked away towards the metal pig, half note down, clasped it with his arms, and, putting his mouth to the shining snout, drink deep droughts of the fresh water. close-by lay a few salad leaves into chestnuts, which register for his supper. no one was in the street but himself. it belonged only to him. he boldly seated himself on the pig's back, leaned forward so that his curly head could rest on the head of the animal, and, before he was aware, fell asleep. it was midnight. the metal pig raised himself gently, and the boy heard him say quite distinctly, hold tight little boy, for i am going to run, and way he started for most wonderful ride first they arrived at the p as the del granduca and the metal horse which bears the dukes statue made allowed

What if the author had used “looked at” instead? punishment would be deemphasized. punishments would be seen as less harsh. the meaning wouldn't change.

[1] nothing that comes from the desert expresses its extremes better than the unhappy growth of the tree yuccas. tormented, thin forests of it stalk drearily in the high mesas, particularly in that triangular slip that fans out eastward from the meeting of the sierras and coastwise hills. the yucca bristles with bayonet-pointed leaves, dull green, growing shaggy with age like an old [5] man's tangled gray beard, tipped with panicles of foul, greenish blooms. after its death, which is slow, the ghostly hollow network of its woody skeleton, with hardly power to rot, makes even the moonlight fearful. but it isn't always this way. before the yucca has come to flower, while yet its bloom is a luxurious, creamy, cone-shaped bud of the size of a small cabbage, full of sugary sap. the indians twist it deftly out of its fence of daggers and roast the prize for their [10] own delectation why does the author use the words "bayonet-pointed" (line 4) and "fence of daggers" (line 9) to describe the leaves of the yucca tree? . to create an image of the sharp edges of the plant to emphasize how beautiful the plant's leaves are to explain when and where the plant grows to show how afraid the author is of the plant