Read the following excerpt from "notes of a native son" by james baldwin:

handsome, proud, and ingrown, "like a toenail," somebody said. but he looked to me, as i grew older, like pictures i had seen of african tribal chieftains: he really should have been naked, with war-paint on and barbaric mementos, standing among spears.

which statement best explains how the use of figurative language conveys meaning in this excerpt?

a. it uses the word "spear" to portray the father's terrible challenges growing up in america.
b. it likens the father to war paint to imply that he was a rough, barbaric kind of person.
c. it compares the father to a toenail to convey the inner pain cause by his stubbornness.
d. it gives human qualities to a spear to convey the father's lack of socialization in american culture.