Racing in the Rain
We can't talk about metaphors in this novel without talking about the titular metaphor, racing in the rain. All of Denny's trials and tribulations are repeatedly brought back to the extended metaphor of a race. Rain represents uncontrollable variables in life that make the course more treacherous and slippery. Every turn is a test of how the person will react. In the metaphor of racing, the "race" represents the events in one's life and the driver or the act of driving represents a person's will to make choices or be subjected to conditions that affect the course of their life.
Satellites (simile)
When Enzo talks about the first time he meets Eve, he compares them both to satellites orbiting around Denny. He says, "We were both satellites orbiting Denny's sun, struggling for gravitational supremacy" (16). Satellites depend on the mass of that which they orbit to stay on track, just as both Enzo and Eve depend on Denny as a source of stability in their lives. Without him, they would both go off course; however, like satellites, they both compete for space around him and contain the constant threat of a possible collision.
Eve's Fertile Field (metaphor)
Eve refers to her reproductive system as a fertile field, thus making the site of her body a metaphor for fertility and procreation. When Eve and Denny talk about her fertile field before having sex, they are really talking about growing their family together. But the emotional tenor of the metaphor changes depending on where it occurs in the novel, thus also serving as a tracking device for Eve and Denny's relationship. For instance, when it first appears in Chapter 4, Enzo recollects a joyous memory: "They fell onto the bed and he mounted her and she said, 'The field is fertile—beware!' And he said, 'I embrace the fertility.' And he plowed the field until it grasped the sheets in its fists, arched its back, and cried out with joy" (16). This initial use of the metaphor occurs at a time when Denny and Eve are just beginning their romantic journey together. But when the metaphor appears in Chapter 12, it marks a sad decline in both Eve's health and the health of their marriage. Enzo remembers seeing Eve and Denny naked together in their bedroom and comments, "It seemed so odd to me because they hadn't mounted or even played with each other in such a long time. But there they were. He positioned himself over her and she said to him, 'The field is fertile.' / 'You aren't really, are you?' he asked. / 'Just say it,' she replied after a moment, her eyes having dimmed..." (67). For Enzo, the absence of fertility in Eve totally recontextualizes her role in their family. It is when Eve becomes sick that Enzo finally is able to empathize with her and understand why she refused medical care.
Enzo imagines himself as a vacuum cleaner (simile)
Enzo compares himself to a vacuum cleaner when he is out in nature, holding his snout to the grass, making direct contact with the smells and sensations on the ground. He says, "I love to run through a field of wet grass that has not been mowed recently, I love to run, keeping my snout low to the ground so the grass and sparkles of water cover my face. I imagine myself as a vacuum cleaner, sucking in all the smells, all the life, a spear of summer grass" (208). The simile comparing a dog to a vacuum cleaner evokes the tendency of dogs to inquire by touching and tasting. A vacuum cleaner does not discriminate what it sucks up, just like a dog who will snap something up into its mouth before it even knows what it is chewing on. The metaphor also reinforces Enzo's domesticity. As much as he wants to connect to his wild ancestry and his evolutionary relation to wolves, he cannot escape the fact that he is very much a domesticated animal, and he reinforces this subconsciously by comparing himself to a domestic appliance.
Life as food (simile)
Enzo, musing about the fast pace of life, says, "How quickly a year passes, like a mouthful of food snatched from the maw of eternity" (240). The simile evokes the fleeting nature of life. By calling life a mouthful of food instead of, perhaps, a meal, Enzo suggests that a person only gets one shot at their life. A mouthful is swallowed all at once. It is up to the person chewing as to whether they will savor it or not. The choice to compare life to food also suggests that it can be a pleasant and nourishing process to live.
