In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," why are the words in this simile appropriate, considering the Mariner's actions?"And every soul it passed me...

This simile comes at a crucial point in the poem, at the
very end of Part III, when Death wins all the crew except for the Mariner, who is won by
Life-in-Death. The simile is used to describe the deaths of the Mariner's fellow
crewmen, who, being won by Death, then die, one by one, slumping to the ground. In this
stanza, the Mariner questions where their souls actually flew
to:

The souls
did from their bodies fly,--

They fled to bliss or
woe!

And every soul, it passed me
by,

Like the whizz of my
crossbow!

Clearly, the simile
is very appropriate because the crew in a sense are killed because of the foolish act of
the Mariner in killing the albatross in the first place. Thus, in the Mariner's mind,
every soul that passes him by reminds him of his act that caused their deaths in the
first place: him shooting his crossbow. We are presented with a Mariner who is haunted
with guilt and indeed, has been won by Life-in-Death, for his life is consumed by his
deed and the consequences of his actions.