The Orange
Oranges are not just significant to the title, one in particular is a genuinely significant character. It plays a huge role in the—for lack of a better work, plot—and its appearance and subsequent character development is emblematic of the imaginative spirit of the work as a whole. The introductory sections create that characterization especially well through use of metaphorical imagery:
“She had passed beneath the orange several times, drawn to its sweet scent before she had discovered it. The perfume could only be emanating from that curious flower. She came often then to secure the whiff that tingled her deep memory; it was as if she knew this scent intimately. It was then that she noticed the line; it seemed to shudder with pleasure, if lines could shudder with pleasure. And when the baby orange appeared, it seemed to grasp that line as its parent, if a line could be a parent.”
Arcangel
Necessarily the orange as it makes its way across the border into Mexico is a strange, mysterious figure calling himself Arcangel. As one might expect from such a name, spiritual and religious significance is applied through allusion, though his true state and nature remain ambiguous:
“Arcangel stood in the rain that flowed like a waterfall from heaven, splashing over his head and naked body in an exuberant torrent.”
SuperNafta
“We have seen his picture. His posters are everywhere. They say his silver clothing is made of titanium. His hair is on fire, and he has the power to duplicate, even triplicate, himself. And he is twice your size. You are a skinny old man compared to him!”
This a literal response to the question of whether anyone has seen the Mexican wrestler calling himself SuperNafta. Within that literal response is metaphor, of course, but the metaphor is more expansive than it seems since SuperNafta the wrestler is himself a metaphor for economic relations between Mexico and the United States.
Traffic Jamming
Also central to the storyline is a massive traffic jam on the Harbor Freeway. Manzanar Murikami is another unusual character: he stands above the freeway and transforms the lines of cars into a symphony which he conducts:
“They had not yet all arrived, or a great wave of them had already plowed through in a slow grumpy mass. Those who cruised by at this reasonable speed, considering the hour, were the early birds or riffraff of the great mass. They took advantage unknowingly of what Manzanar knew to be a traffic window”
Randy Newman Didn't ♥ L.A.
Randy Newman enjoyed a huge hit in the 1980’s with a highly misunderstood and ironic love letter set to music titled “I Love L.A.” At least one character puts a metaphorical-laced spin on that misunderstanding by eschewing irony and making it quite clear and direct:
“Have you ever seen an I heart L.A. sticker? People here heart everything else— Ensenada, Hussong’s, Taos, Alaskan Huskies, Guatemala, even New York. That L.A. is a desert paradise, sunshine, blond people, insipid, romantic is B.S. Nobody hearts L.A.”
