Pop Culture
For most of the history of literature, metaphors were often constructed around allusions to what was simply called culture. That meant epic poetry, myth, paintings, sculpture, history, etc. Today, there is a separation between that culture and “pop culture” and if you aren’t up on your pop culture, some metaphorical allusions can be as obscure as a reference to Kolos or William Dawes. What is interesting is that this novel was published in 1995, nearly thirty years after the film this metaphor references:
“Bibiano said he felt like Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby, when she goes into the neighbour’s house for the first time with John Cassavetes.”
The Doctrine of Multiple Killings
Sometimes a metaphorical image is necessary to link to another metaphorical image. One builds upon the other in order to lend the second greater resonance and connotation:
“In his personal theology, hell was a framework or chain of coincidences. He explained serial killings as `explosions of chance.’”
Animal Metaphor
Animal references are fertile fodder for metaphor and simile. A lot can be conveyed about a situation or character through the shorthand of the comparison to an animal. One good example is the tragic character of Lorenzo during a half-hearted suicide attempt:
“One day he climbed up a pylon and got such a shock that he lost both his arms. They had to amputate them just below the shoulders… It seemed to take forever to reach the surface and then he could hardly manage to keep himself afloat, but he did. That afternoon he learnt to swim without arms, like an eel or a snake.”
Familiarity
The key to the simile is, of course, familiarity. One aspect of the comparison can be a complete mystery, but the less familiar that half is, the more familiar the thing to which it is being compared should be. The comparison to Rosemary’s Baby above, for instance, is not only dependent upon having seen the movie, but remembering the particular scene described. Here is an example of the opposite: a comparison to something that is about as close to universally experienced as it gets:
“In the hallway the atmosphere was even more tense. There was hardly any talking; it was like a dentist’s waiting room.”
Famous Sayings
Even better than mere familiarity of commonly shared circumstances may be familiarity of well-known sayings. A commonly-understood saying instantly conveys understanding. That leaves it up to the author to construct the meaning around the comparison:
“At the bottom of the stairs, he ran into Veronica Garmendia. She asked what had happened to him. What do you mean? Why should anything have happened to me? asked Bibiano. I don’t know, said Veronica, but you’re as white as a sheet. I’ll never forget her saying that, wrote Bibiano: white as a sheet.”
