Goodbye Realism
Although the story starts off as a completely realistic tale about a boy and his favorite toy, once things take a turn away from realism, it goes all-in. Things which should never ever be seen walking and talking become things for which it is perfectly normal to be seen walking and talking:
“‘Calm down, ladies,’ said a croaking tennis ball, bouncing up alongside Jack and the Christmas Pig. The ball looked as though it had been chewed by a dog, and was very smelly.”
The Loser
The big bad of this strange world away from the realistic world in which the story begins is a character known as the Loser. He is such a big that he actually lives in a place he calls a lair. And it goes without saying that nothing good ever lives in a lair:
“His voice was the most terrible Jack had ever heard. It was like the scream of brakes, high and pained, and it made Jack think that the Loser must be suffering almost as much as the Things waiting for their death.”
Being Famous
Before finding out that Jack is to become her stepbrother, Holly and Jack get along great as friends who just happen to have met in school. This is true even though Holly is already famous when Jack first meets her. Perhaps the metaphor says something about the behavior of famous people or perhaps it merely says something out our expectations of them, but one thing is for sure: Jack’s perception of Holly says something about the chasm between the famous and regular folk:
“Holly wasn’t big-headed, even though she was famous.”
Yeah, Bad Dude…that Loser
He may not be the very personification of evil like Voldemort, but the Loser is definitely villainous to the extreme. In fact, much of the most extreme use of metaphorical imagery is devoted to describing him, whether inside or outside his lair:
“The Loser reached out his claw-like hand, with the fingers as long as steel girders, and Jack heard the chimes, and knew that hope wouldn’t be enough now.”
Strange Places
The world that the Christmas Pig takes Jack on the journey to track down the lost DP is one filled with many places and each one seems to be a little stranger than the next. Although still a long way from the lair of the Loser, some of the strange places are also much nicer than others, at least if the metaphorical descriptions hold true:
“The new town was nothing like Disposable. Everything was clean and well-tended. The snow-covered houses were all as snug, neat, and pretty as if they were made of gingerbread, their front doors painted in different colours.”
