Crumbs
The metaphor of “crumbs” is painted quite literally and without ambiguity: “the leftover kids who didn’t belong to any group.” This metaphor is expanded to become a recurring theme throughout the narrative to the point that it effectively can be identified as imagery. Eventually, in fact, Deming will even realize that the term applies to his white, college-professor adoptive mom, Kay. In addition to the metaphor, imagery of literal crumbs will also come to populate the narrative in ways that reflect upon their figurative aspect.
Character Description
Imagery of a more specific and individualized nature is also used effectively in the novel. One such example is a memorably offbeat description of a minor character named Nate who lingers in the memory only because of the imagery describing his physical appearance:
“Nate was so tall and skinny he had a premature hunchback, and his long, thin face was giraffe-adjacent, but even he thought Daniel was a loser.”
The Two New Yorks
The reference to New York as a setting means two different things. There is New York City and there is the entire rest of the very expansive geographical area occupied by the rest of the state. In one beautifully constructed bit of imagery, the difference between the two New Yorks is perfectly conveyed:
“Upstate, snow was everywhere, the season in deep coma. Yet in the city there was minimal snow, heat lamps on the roof and bridges in the distance lit up like X-rays, and there was music, wordless and thumping, bulbs of gold and green, and dancing, arms and legs moving in slow motion, like animals stalking their prey. There were girls with geometric tattoos up the insides of their forearms, hair bundled up like snakes, eyeliner packed on so thick it looked like it had been applied with a Sharpie.”
Daniel the Zelig
In a section comparing the fundamental personalities of Daniel and his friend Roland, imagery is used to promote the idea of Daniel as being a kind of Zelig. Zelig is the character played by Woody Allen in his film of the same name; a character with no inherent personality who can actually physically transform into meet the desired expectations of any social grouping in which he finds himself. Daniel cannot physically transform, of course, but the imagery cements him as a Zelig-esque character nonetheless:
“If Roland proclaimed a show boring, people agreed to bounce. Daniel was malleable, everyone and no one, a collector of moods, a careful observer of the right thing to say. He watched other people’s reactions before deciding on his own; he could be fun or serious or whatever was most strategic, whoever you wanted him to be.”
