Opening Lines
Useful advice to readers that one should beware at their own peril coming up here. If the opening line of a book is unmistakable metaphorical imagery—and especially if that metaphorical imagery is philosophical and spiritually contemplative—then you can safely bet that metaphor will be controlling literary device for the rest of the text. Count on it:
“Life and death, dreaming and wakefulness: station for the perplexed soul.”
The Darkness
Advice that is perhaps not quite as useful coming up here. It likely cannot be firmly established as actual fact, but if you were to place a bet on “darkness” appearing more often in metaphorical form in 20th century literature than any other single metaphor, you would probably enjoy a substantial windfall. Once one begins to notice how omnipresent darkness as metaphor is in literature published since the last few decades of the 1800’s it becomes very difficult not to find it. One almost has to make an effort to avoid. Case in point:
“The darkness spread all around us, breathing in the breezes of spring, while above us the vigilant stars exchanged glances.”
“The caravan moved off in a darkness that betrayed the first glimpses of dawn.”
Metaphor Everywhere
Seriously not kidding with the intimation that a book which kicks off with pure metaphor is going to be overwhelmed with the stuff. Some writers get into a groove, it seems, in which their admittedly admirable talent for constructing metaphor seems to start mutating like a virus until it infects even simplest and most mundane of statements. This example, for instance, seems to be not just two different sentences, but two completely unrelated thoughts linked only by the commonality of each clause centered upon a metaphor. The problem is these metaphors do not naturally connect in any logical sense. Sure does sound pretty when you say it out loud, though. Of course, it is worth keeping in mind that this a translation into English and the original may convey something not captured in the translation.
“My heart jumped violently, kindling a fire in my senses.”
Universalizing the Human Experience
One of the more common uses to which metaphor is often put to use is the attempt to identify a universal bond united all mankind together. Music has been used as metaphor. Love, of course, is always a popular favorite. Some people even try to claim math is the common bond, but for a great many math actually can just be rolled into this version:
“Suffering is the common human language."
The Plot
Even the mechanism of plotting gets into the metaphorical action. The narrative kicks into gear over the issue of why people living under Islamic rule seem to have it so much worse than those who do not. Ultimately, the blame is pinned on Satan (sorry for the spoiler). But first, a metaphorical image:
“Islam today skulks in the mosques and doesn’t go beyond them to the outside world.”
